Talking In My Sleep
by Lana Archer
Summary: "Our Bonnie?" Damon asked tilting his head, "let's get this straight," he moved until he stood inches from Lucy's face, "She is not ours, she is not yours, she is mine. She is in my head, she's been haunting my dreams and she's the one who saved my life! As it stands between the two of us - she belongs to me." : Post-Damon return. Bamon with a cosmic twist (Cover by Esmeralda3122)
1. Chapter 1

_**I'm gonna need someone to hold me while my hysteria ebbs away.**_

_**This one shot was all I could do to not turn into a snivelling hot mess. Lawd help me.**_

_**This sort of goes with the plot but also not. Lemme know what you guys think X**_

**I disclaim everything except my equal love and loathing for Bonnie's incessant selflessness**

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><p>"You were talking in your sleep again." Damon said as he took the mug of fresh coffee from Bonnie as she sat down in front of him. Her eyes shot up to meet his, apprehension and fear as clear as day in her malachite eyes.<p>

"I had…I had a bad dream." She muttered lamely, trying her best to play it off, which was pointless considering how well the dark haired vampire now knew her.

"Wanna share with the class?" Kai called out as he jogged into the kitchen, grinning widely as he plonked himself down next to Bonnie who immediately got up on her feet to move away. Damon's eyes narrowed and he growled lowly in the back of his throat. "I get it, Damon." Kai said with his hands raised, "I won't touch her."

"I'm gonna go ahead and add don't go _near_ her to the list as well." Damon hissed through his teeth when Bonnie's small hand dropped onto his shoulder.

"Damon –" Bonnie's voice cut off when a sharp scream left her mouth and in a flash Damon's eyes darted between her and Kai as he moved to his feet with that unnatural agility to get Bonnie into his arms. There was blood oozing out of her stomach, **why**.

"_Bonnie_!" Damon yelled out, his eyes zeroing in on an arrow that had appeared out of nowhere and he pulled it out without thinking twice. He sank to his knees as he cradled her, her mouth opening and closing as her face contorted in pain. He ripped his wrist open roughly and poured the blood down her throat, lifting his eyes from her face only then to search for an explanation. They were underground. Kai had a crossbow. Damon felt a soft pressure at the back of his mind, a memory, a feeling…something was calling to his attention but he couldn't focus on anything outside of healing Bonnie and them getting the _hell_ out of hell. "Bonnie," He hissed, ignoring the fact that Kai was still aiming the crossbow at them as he scoured her face for a sign that the blood was working and Bonnie coughed and nodded, already trying to sit up. He helped her and pulled her back against his chest with his one hand while raising the other as a sign of cooperation. "Kai, think about this, she's the only way to get us all back. You can't kill her."

"Make another move and the next arrow goes in her heart." Kai swore his childlike face darkening with the promise of death. Damon nodded, tightening his grip on the witch who had her small hands gripped on his forearm around her waist like a vice.

"You got it, whatever you want, just no more shooting arrows at Bonnie." Damon called out and Kai's face twisted in a humourless smile.

"I wonder when you'll both realise that this isn't a _game_; that you two ran out of options the minute you ended up here with me. You can only cheat death so many times before you find yourself cornered with the hounds of hell snarling in your face." Damon was hardly paying attention to what he was saying, his ears were too acutely trained to rhythm of Bonnie's heart – he had to make sure she was healing. They were running out of time. "I won't hesitate to kill you both if you don't take me with you." Bonnie whimpered as she moved to become more upright, Damon couldn't see her face but he could feel her determination in her body; the way her shoulders were tensed and raised, the way her hands had stopped shaking. Without warning she sent out a pulse of magic and sent the crossbow flying and Damon took that chance to speed toward Kai to get the ascension device. He could hear someone calling to him, it could have been Bonnie, it could have been Stefan or even Elena – he didn't know in that moment. When he got the device everything seemed to slow down and he watched with aching clarity as Bonnie's face warped as a bright light shot down on him. What was happening? Why wasn't she coming with him?

Damon knocked softly on Bonnie's door and peeked in to see her roll to her side to face the entrance of her bedroom. She smiled and her teeth shone in the moonlight that poured in through the open windows. Damon walked in and sat at the edge of her bed with his back to her.

"You said something in your sleep just now." Damon said softly, forgoing any formalities and he felt Bonnie's body move and the mattress dip and shift as she came closer to him. She threw her feet over the edge of the bed and rested her head against his shoulder with a soft sigh.

"You know I can't control me talking in my sleep Damon, as much as it annoys you." Bonnie said with a low chuckle.

"It doesn't annoy me," Damon corrected her; "I just pointed it out as something you didn't know…Though I'm sure someone had told you that before." Her head moved as she nodded.

"What did I say?" She prompted him as she yawned delicately and something twisted in Damon's chest as the image of her bleeding and gasping assaulted him…Wait, had that happened?

"You said that I was leaving you." Damon said quietly, "You said that you wouldn't make it but I would and then you let me go."

"Are you sure you're not the one having bad dreams?" Bonnie teased as she rolled her head around and looked down at his chest, patting the space above his heart reassuringly.

"Don't do that," Damon scolded softly, "Don't downplay the danger of all of this, or how badly we both need to get home."

"Damon you _are_ home." Bonnie said, lifting her head to look him in the eye. She cupped the side of his face with a warm smile and nodded. "You're home, you're safe." Before he could say anything the door swung open and Kai stood tall in the dimly lit hallway as he grinned at Bonnie who was alone in bed and sleeping. Damon could see it all but he couldn't see himself there anymore, couldn't _feel_ himself, couldn't feel Bonnie's dainty fingers ghosting over the side of his face.

"Damon" Stefan's voice called, in its usual surly, parental demeanour.

"…Damon." Bonnie's voice echoed in his head, full of judgment.

"Damon!" Alaric yelled out, in shock.

"Damon?" Jeremy whispered, horror slicing through his husky voice.

"Damon!" Bonnie exclaimed and he could hear the smile in her voice, the amusement.

"Damon." Stefan's voice came again, more serious this time, "Damon, wake up." Damon's eyes fluttered open and he locked eyes with his brother and his confusion increased by tenfold. "You were talking in your sleep." Stefan explained.

"Where's Bonnie?" Damon demanded hotly, pushing the bedding off of his body and moving to get out of bed. Stefan pressed his mouth into a thin line and shook his head. This had been happening every day since he'd gotten his brother back.

"You came back without her." Stefan said sadness clear in his voice. The sound of a man used to mourning something, simply adding another thing to the list and Damon felt his stomach bottom out as he heard it.

"No." Damon hissed, "_No_! She was **just** here with me!" He insisted, even though that feeling was rearing its head again, the knowledge that he'd lived and once again she hadn't. "NO!"

"I'm sorry." Stefan said, even though there was nothing Damon's younger brother could have done.

"_No_!" Damon snarled, his eyes wide and wet as he shoved Stefan away from him, "I wasn't supposed to leave her there, she isn't **safe** without me…he, he won't stop until, Bon – _**Bonnie**_!" Damon tried moving again and Alaric appeared out of nowhere and held him down.

"You need to calm down." The original vampire instructed but it fell on deaf ears.

"_You_ need to let me _go_." Damon growled as he pushed Alaric away. "I need to find her."

"Damon there's no way to access the dimension you were in from here, it's impossible." The blue eyed Salvatore's face warped into something monstrous then, without even reverting to his vampiric state.

"I'm going to find her!" Damon spat as he flashed to his feet. "You're either helping or getting in my way; I won't let her die for nothing. Not again."

"She died saving you." Alaric said sombrely and Damon spun around, murder in his eyes.

"Like I _said_, I won't let her die for nothing. You're either _helping_ me, or you're in my _way_." The manic look in his eyes silenced the two vampires in front of him but one voice called to him.

"I'll help you." Caroline said her eyes still bloodshot from the realisation that her best friend was still gone. Enzo appeared next to her.

"Count me in mate." the accented vampire said with a smirk, "Nothing worth sticking around here for in any case." Damon ignored the heated look between Enzo and his brother and nodded.

"We leave in half an hour."

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><p><strong>Please excuse ay grammarspelling flaws, literally wrote this in 20 minutes – it had to get out.**

**Stay excellent**


	2. Chapter 2

**So much for a one-shot **

**You are all wonderful. WONDERFUL I tell you.**

**The song is "Silhouettes" by Of Monsters and Men**

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><p>No one really understood where it came from but the near feral look in Damon's eyes hadn't budged since he first remembered that he'd returned without Bonnie. Then, when he realised that Alaric had removed him from Elena's mind there was no consoling him. Stefan tried his best but he couldn't rein Damon in for much longer so when he woke up <em>again<em>, at three AM, wild-eyed and spluttering demanding to know where Bonnie was Stefan knew something had to be done.

"You're either _helping_ or getting in my _way_." Damon had all but snarled at Stefan and Alaric before Caroline and Enzo stepped in and said they'd accompany Damon on his wild goose chase to get Bonnie back. Caroline hadn't been the same since Damon's return either, her hope for Bonnie's life was dwindling before everyone's eyes and she was quickly giving up the pretence that everything was okay. It felt like _everyone_ was, because Damon may have returned but the state he was in and the fact that Bonnie wasn't here made it all worse somehow.

_It's hard, letting go_

_I'm finally at peace_

_But it feels wrong_

"What about Elena?" Stefan asked, knowing that he was grasping at straws. Damon's head turned slowly to regard his brother with a barely veiled annoyance.

"She'll remember me in the snap of Alaric's fingers," Damon replied his voice fumbling over itself as he sought out reason, "Bonnie doesn't **have** that time, she ran out time when she sent me here. We need to get her back." Stefan pressed his mouth shut then and let everyone else do the talking. Damon waved them all off and went to pack up a few things, like he suggested they did too over his shoulder as he walked away.

_Slow, I'm getting up_

_My hands and feet are weaker than before_

Damon kept picturing the state that Bonnie'd been left in, he'd been dreaming of his last moments with her, hallucinating her when he was awake during the day. He couldn't get away from her no matter what he did. He couldn't drink it away, with blood or bourbon and without Elena to console him in other ways – not that he'd be able to explain his night terrors to her in any case, he'd left himself no other choice. He needed to stay sane long enough to think up a plan to get Bonnie back. He remembered telling her to go and he remembered that _stupid_ smile on her _stupid_ face when she sent him off without her. And now he couldn't go a second without mourning her.

_And you, are folded on the bed_

_Where I rest my head_

_There's nothing I can see_

_Darkness becomes me_

The dreams he had nightly were the worst because they felt so _real_. The 'hell' that Damon believed himself to be in with her and Kai was nothing compared to the guilt that had struck him when he returned to Earth after Bonnie sacrificed herself once more. The witch had stuc to putting everyone before herself as always and _this_ time, and because she'd done it for him – _Damon Salvatore_ of all creatures, it unwound something that had been lying dormant in his chest for decades. He couldn't let her stay there – not with that psycho who could snap without a second's notice and attack her with another arrow, or any of the variety of ways Damon had dreamt that he'd killed Bonnie since he'd returned home.

Elena was moments away, he knew, she _always_ was. There was always something standing between them and there was always something to bring them back together but Bonnie needed him _now_. She needed him as much as he needed her to have come home with him, he didn't very much feel like he deserved to be back. A sentiment Jeremy wholly encouraged, which didn't really make sense considering the girl Damon had seen sneaking about the house every now and then. Damon considered killing her just to get his mind off of everything but then he'd have to deal with Jeremy and killing Baby Gilbert would just make him miss Bonnie even more. To say he was a little unhinged was an understatement.

_Yes_, words couldn't describe the mind-numbing relief he felt when he saw his brother again and when he realised he was _home_ and _safe_ and _alive_ and that he'd made it. But almost instantly that giddy euphoria was drowned in a sickening awareness that Bonnie may never feel the same way. That she was alone and scared with nothing but that blasted teddy bear and a grimoire to protect her. That coupled with the fact that his girlfriend had gone from a herbal hallucinogenic addict to self-inflicted amnesiac and therefor no longer remembered her love for him was too much – because she too, sided with her brother, glaring and wondering why he didn't try harder to save Bonnie. Why he didn't put in 'more of an effort'… Like he'd planned it all out himself.

_But I'm already there_

_I'm already there_

_Wherever there is you_

_I will be there too_

"Damon? What are you doing?" Damon squeezed his eyes shut at the sound of her voice from where he stood in Stefan's closet, packing the few things he had in his possession, most of them recently purchased upon his return. He turned and even though he knew she'd be there he still couldn't help the twist in his chest at the sight of Bonnie looking at him with open curiosity. She was wearing a white lace trimmed dress with Miss Cuddles dangling from her left hand, the other on her hip.

"I'm packing." He said simply, not bothering to hide the fact that he was talking to a figment of his imagination anymore.

"Fun!" She smiled and this was what killed him even more, she was so _pleasant_ to him when he imagined her now, so _excited_ for him to be home, so **happy** all the damn time. It reminded him instantly that none of it was real and that the _real_ Bonnie was probably somewhere, running terrified through an otherwise deserted alternate universe. "Where are we going?" Damon tutted and flicked the space near her nose as he stepped around her to reach for his leather jacket.

"_We're_ not going anywhere," he said to her managing to sound playful for the first time in who knows how long, "Because _you're_ not real and _I_ have to keep my head above water if I want to get the real you back."

"Of course I'm real." Bonnie said with a bright smile, "_Look_." She stepped up to him and reached out a hand to touch his chest but he flashed a few feet away before she could hope to make contact.

_There's nothing that I'd take back_

_But it's hard to say there's nothing I regret_

"**Don't**." Damon warned and she giggled playfully, swinging her arms around a little as she peeked at what he'd packed.

"You look better with a little colour in your clothing." She commented offhandedly. He'd never get used to _Judgy_ giving him a compliment, so he showed her as much.

"What do you care," Damon said, growing tired of the exchange, "You only have googly eyes for tweens."

"Like you're any different." Bonnie snapped and then stilled her motions, her mouth falling open and then she blushed profusely. "I didn't mean that." Damon shrugged.

"I'd prefer it if you did." He replied honestly. He zipped up his bag and then stood upright to take one last look at her – for now. "You _know_," he began shaking his head slowly as the sentence formed in his head, "I don't know why you did what you did. Why you saved me and not yourself." She spun around with a lopsided grin and skipped up to him and craned her neck and lifted her free hand to cup his cheek like she always did. And like always, he felt himself grow cold, ice spreading through his body from where she touched him.

"I saved you because you deserve to be saved." She replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world and Damon's face stretched into an angry sneer.

"And _you_ don't?" He snapped, pulling out of her hold, ignoring the hurt that flashed across her pretty face. The image of her standing before him flickered and before Damon could protest he was assaulted with a separate image of her writhing on the floor in a pool of her own blood, crying and screaming.

_You bleed, we crawl_

_Like animals_

_But when it's over_

_I'm still awake_

Damon grunted as he fell to the floor, his head reeling as he tried to find some semblance of composure.

_A thousand silhouettes dancing on my chest_

_No matter where I sleep, you are haunting me_

Cool, slender, child-like fingers lifted his face by his chin and his vision cleared and Bonnie's face came into focus.

"I only wanted you to have peace." She said softly, folding her legs underneath her as Damon sat up and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Well the Universe is set on proving that I can't find it until you do… so joke's on _you_." He bit out through clenched teeth. She sighed unhappily before looking over her shoulder. Her green eyes returned to his and she smiled softly.

"Don't drive her too crazy okay? She's hurting enough and she only wants to help, as for Enzo…You're on your own."

"On my _own_ huh?" Damon echoed with a mirthless scoff.

"As alone as you're meant to be." She said and then disappeared from view as Caroline stepped around the corner, frowning when she saw him sitting on the floor staring at the one wall.

"Uh…Are you ready?" she asked, a little apprehensively. Damon's eyes snapped to hers and took a few moments to go into focus and she knew what that meant so she helped him to his feet and smiled.

"Where did Bonnie go? She was here like a second ago…" Damon said, his brain feeling suddenly muddled as he waved a hand in the general direction of where the witch had disappeared - why had she disappeared? Caroline froze for a second before her smile returned.

"Let's go get her, huh?" Caroline said after a few moments. _What the hell had they gotten themselves into now_?

"Yes," Damon replied tiredly, "Let's."

_But I'm already there_

_I'm already there_

_Wherever there is you_

_**I will be there too**_

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><p><strong>I don't know what the hell I'm doing with this but I hope you guys like it.<strong>

**Also, you may have noticed that Damon's only **_**really**_** himself when he's hallucinating Bonnie, when she's not right in front of him his head starts going all hazy and crazy…hmm. But in general his awareness comes and goes. But enough out of me.**

**Stay excellent.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't plan on sticking to the plot; I'm bending this all in favour of my favourite duo.**

**I also just wanted to say to WarriorPrincessNumber42 and MystiBleu73 – I am one hundred percent on the same page as you, TVD shoves a lot under the carpet in favour of fleeting sentimentalities and that has never sat well with me. If we think about it, really think about, Damon didn't deserve Bonnie's sacrifice but she went ahead and put someone she's claimed to hate for years ahead of her own interests. It's not realistic. I'm a (relatively) nice person but even I would struggle with sacrificing myself for the sake of someone like Damon (**_**a lot of people**_** for that matter, and I don't think that makes me a bad person?)…So that begs the question – is it just because Bonnie's **_**that**_** great of a soul or does she **_**genuinely**_** love him? BAH. This is hurting my head and hurting my heart because I'm sure that the writers won't do her any justice.**

**Also. Guys, within the space of two days & two chapters you all have rallied behind this story and that makes me all giddy inside. I've been posting here since like, the end of Sep (of this year) so it still amazes me when I get any sort of response to my stuff…so thank you, so so much X**

**Apologies for the lengthy note.**

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><p>Damon grunted in his sleep from where he was hunched over awkwardly in the passenger seat of Caroline's car. The little sleep he got was riddled with nightmares which meant that he was <em>always<em> tired and _always_ on edge.

"Gemini Coven." He muttered for the third time and Enzo sighed softly, Caroline only hearing it because of her supernatural instincts. She and Enzo locked eyes in the review mirror as Damon started awake and glared out into the slowly approaching morning. "Are we there yet?" He wondered aloud and both the other vampires were surprised. They were sure he'd be hallucinating Bonnie again. Caroline turned left and quickly found a parking spot before pulling out her phone and nodding to herself as she checked something.

"We're here." She confirmed and Damon shot out of the car before she could stop him. "_Shit_." She hissed, following after Enzo who hadn't missed a beat following after the blue eyed Salvatore. Damon's eyes had a manic darkle in them as he sniffed out the person they were looking for before speeding off to the right dorm room, with Enzo acting as a shadow. Caroline caught up with them and was about to shove them aside to knock when two things happened simultaneously. A shuddering hoarse gasp echoed through the wooden door to the trio assembled outside of it while a high pitched cry pierced their ears. Damon kicked the door in without thinking about it and stormed inside, determined to get what he needed. Caroline had grown suddenly apprehensive, managing a scowl on her usually euphoric features as Enzo shoved her into the room while he followed quickly behind her and fleetingly inspected the damage to the door. Caroline's eyes rolled before she could stop them as Damon stood a few feet in front of her, panting like a madman.

"Get dressed." Damon growled out and Tyler's face drained of colour as he moved off of Liv and sought out his pants. "Not _you_ mutt, _**her**_." Damon clarified with an accusatory finger, "I'd like to say 'take your time' but we have none to waste…especially on trivialities such as these." Liv's face reddened as she gripped the sheet around her body to obscure her naked form from view. Not that any of the visiting vampires would have cared.

"What the hell do you mean '_her_', she's not going _anywhere_ with you!" Tyler snarled and Damon cackled gleefully before throwing himself towards the half-naked werewolf only to be intercepted by Caroline who yanked Tyler aside with a warning in her eyes at Damon who growled angrily. Turning to Tyler Caroline shook her head and raised her hands to explain while Enzo grinned wolfishly at Liv who's eyes were darting all over the room in a blind panic.

"We need Liv to come with us to help bring Bonnie back." Caroline said, with as much patience as she could muster, she really didn't like having to be the voice of reason but between Damon and Enzo what choice did she have?

"Bring _Bonnie_ back?" Tyler echoed, something sparking in his eyes, anger, disbelief, she couldn't tell anymore, "How do you plan on doing that?" He asked, his shoulders tensing up.

"We don't have a plan yet, but we have a direction that we're going in and we're going to need a witch we can rely on…or the closest thing to that that Liv can manage." Caroline added on as a bitter afterthought of the memory of why Bonnie was still gone from them to begin with.

"Can I speak for myself?" Liv wondered aloud as she moved to stand to her feet with the sheet wrapped securely around her.

"You _could_," Enzo answered stepping towards her slowly, "But I think the real question is whether or not your opinion matters to us."

"**Get**. **Dressed**!" Damon snapped, startling both women in the room. Liv pressed her mouth together, "It's not really a requirement though," Damon went on, "Merely an act of _courtesy_, I don't care what you are or aren't wearing as long as you come with us in the next ten minutes."

"What he _means_," Caroline says as she approached Liv, "Is that since he's been back he's been hallucinating Bonnie and at first we thought it was just guilt from her sending him back while sacrificing herself but it's _more_ than that…It's so much worse than _guilt_…We think there might be something supernatural, something magical involved and we need to figure out how to get him back to normal and how to get Bonnie back _home_." Liv nodded at the end of it all, thoughtfulness ghosted over her features before she locked eyes with Damon who looked like he was at his wit's end. "Liv, _please_. I need my best friend back." Caroline whispered, unsurprised when she felt Enzo's arm on her shoulder as his eyes bore into the witch's.

"So do I." Enzo added on, his voice low and riddled with a noticeable amount of emotion. There was a bout of silence before Liv began nodding. Caroline wiped away at the single tear that fell down at the witch's agreement – she was stuck balancing precariously on the line between hope and severe disappointment, which meant she was probably as unstable as Damon at this point but she smiled through it and surprised everyone when she pulled Liv into a quick hug.

"I'll help you." Liv said with a small smile as she was hugged by the bubbly vampire.

"Thank you." Caroline said as she stepped away, "Thank you." Enzo reappeared at Damon's side in time to tug him away from an edgy and confused wolf, for everyone's safety.

"Caroline stay here and wait for her," Enzo said with an impressive amount of authority bleeding through his accent, "We'll be right outside." Caroline nodded and turned around with a bright smile on her face as she faced her ex-boyfriend and his new love interest.

"Alright, let's get some clothes on people!" She said with a clap of her hands.

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><p>Stefan was pacing his living room floor when there was a knock on the door, Damon, Caroline and Enzo had left hours ago and it was well into the afternoon. When he opened the door he found Elena on the other end of the threshold. She smiled as she walked past him and scoured the oddly quiet and empty house.<p>

"Where is everyone?" She asked as she turned to face him.

"They've gone to find a way to get Bonnie back." Stefan said quietly and watched as questions began to run through her mind.

"Why didn't you go with them? Why did no one tell me? Where are they going?" She asked, an edge of irritation in her voice as she regarded her ex-boyfriend.

"They don't have anything substantial to go on Elena," Stefan explained, "They have two words; the 'Gemini Coven' and this version of Damon that makes me angry at myself for wanting him back at all." Elena's head reared back in shock as her face became covered in her disapproval and disappointment.

"First of all, those two words are more than any of us had before," Elena said, "And second you don't get to say that about Damon, you _need_ him, you still do and you should be grateful that he's back." Stefan shook his head at her misunderstanding him.

"I've claimed for so long that Damon is the more selfish between us but it isn't true, it never _has_ been true – that is our one likeness between the two of us. The definitive difference between us has always been evident in how we _act_ on that selfishness." He walked further into his home then, towards the kitchen as he explained, "Damon is reckless with it where I am more calculating and quiet – but when it comes to the two of us I always knew that my life was non-negotiable to him, but the state I was in never seemed to faze him so much as my being alive with him – that's why we fought as much as we did." He drew in an unnecessary breath then, "But when I still had hope at his return not _once_ did I wonder what state he'd be in when he came back and seeing him like this…as ridiculous as it sounds, I can't help but blame myself. It's worse somehow than when he was still dead to us, this Damon…this person who's coming undone before our very eyes in ways I'd never thought possible – he scares me. I feel like that day he and Bon…the day he and Bonnie died, was the day they _really_ died. Who's to say that she won't come back to us in the same condition?" Elena shook her head, ignoring the tears that fell at the mention of her best friend's name.

"Then the definitive difference between you and _me_ Stefan," Elena said in a watery voice, "Is that I don't care what form Bonnie takes when she comes back, what state she's in…I will _always_ love her and I will _always_ need her."

"Then that is how you show _your_ selfishness, do you think Bonnie would want that for herself? That indefinite madness? She deserves better than that and so does my brother." Tenseness fell around them as the two vampires looked at one another.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest.

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><p>"If you don't change this song I <em>won't<em> be responsible for my actions." Enzo growled from his seat behind Caroline. Liv was practically pressed up against the glass on the other end of the back seat. Damon had grown incredibly quiet after Liv had agreed to come with them, he was staring out into the passing forests scenery as they sped through mile after mile.

"Shut it Enzo, _I'm_ driving, therefor _I'm_ dictating what we listen to." Caroline snapped half-heartedly. Enzo groaned and flopped back onto the cushioned seat and turned to rake his eyes over Liv's form as she tried and failed at smiling at him. He wiggled his fingers, watching a frown skip over Caroline's brow in his peripheral view of the review mirror. He caught her eye in the review mirror and lifted his eyebrows repeatedly and suggestively causing her to scoff in return.

"I need to feed." Damon said suddenly, gaining everyone's attention. He noted how Liv's heart rate accelerated and he would have found amusement in it if he hadn't been seeking out an entirely different witch's heartbeat and presence.

"Can't it wait?" Caroline wondered as she took a turn. A low growl vibrated in Damon's chest, bubbling up into his throat before he hissed out a resounding 'no'.

"Take this," Enzo said as he tossed a blood bag onto Damon's lap, "And pull yourself together mate, we don't have time for pit stops." Damon nodded as he began to pull onto the crimson liquid.

"You're right," Damon said as he took in a shuddering relieved breath, "You're right." Not a second after he'd taken the final sip from the blood bag did his eyes fall closed and his body sag into the hold of the passenger seat. Caroline pulled the seatbelt over his chest without taking her eyes off of the road, a force of habit she reasoned inwardly.

"Is he asleep?" Enzo asked and she nodded in return. "Right," he went on and clapped his hands and rubbed the palms together as he turned his body to face Liv fully, "So we're headed to New Orleans to get as much information about this as we can but if you could be forthcoming about everything you know about the _Gemini Coven_ that would be lovely." A scared breathy laugh fell out of Liv's mouth as her eyes went between Caroline and Enzo before she cleared her throat and racked her brain.

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><p>"You can't kill me forever!" Kai screamed out in pain after Bonnie as she ran away from him again, hauling ass to Damon's Camaro and cranking up the engine before peeling down to the Salvatore Boarding House. She had to get there before he did, so she could replenish the protective wards she'd put up all around the house. She looked over quickly at the food she'd managed to procure on her latest supply run before she yanked the car into a messy left turn as she burnt rubber through the empty streets. She'd put off getting food as long as she could have but unless she planned on staying drunk on bourbon for the foreseeable future, she hadn't had a choice. Spinning the car into a terrible angle in the driveway she killed the engine and fled through the front doors, slamming them shut and chanting through the Latin verse to reseal the spell over the house. The words came out broken and disjointed due to her breathlessness and her mind still reeling from all the adrenaline. She felt the pulse of power leave her as the spell took hold and she slid down to the floor with her back still pressed to the front door. The relief was short lived as the thick silence came to her attention once more. Drawing in a determined breath she got up onto shaky feet and walked into the kitchen, dropping the food off there before she headed upstairs to her room in the house. Walking up to the full length mirror in the far corner of the room she lifted her shirt and inspected the small scar there, she'd managed to fix herself up quite decently with magic and some medical supplies she'd also killed Kai in order to procure.<p>

"It's healing quite nicely," his voice said, calling her out of her own thoughts. Her heart clenched at the sound but she turned around and smiled anyway.

"Yeah," she said, dropping her hold on the hem of the oversized checked shirt that she'd loaned from him…or was it really loaning when he wasn't even _there_ anymore? "It is." He grinned and walked towards her then but she held out a hand before he could hug her or console her or _worse_, keep smiling at her. "Please don't." she whispered softly. "It messes up my head."

"But it also makes you feel less alone," Damon pointed out and pulled her harshly into an embrace, she tried fighting it off but it felt too warm, too familiar to let go, "I'm proud of you." He muttered into the crown of her head.

"_Proud_?" she echoed as she gave in and wrapped her arms around his waist, "Why?"

"Because you still have _hope_ and you're _still_ strong and you're _still_ fighting." He explained.

"What else do I have left?" Bonnie asked, lifting her head to lock eyes with him.

"You have me." He said with a warm smile and Bonnie shook her head and pulled out of his hold and hugging her body.

"No I don't." she said, a pain re-entering her chest as her heart began to ache. "This isn't you."

"It's the me you need to get out of here." Damon said seriously as he began to walk backwards to her door a wistful look passing over his face as he gripped the doorframe before looking over his shoulder before looking over at her again with a wide grin, "And I'll always be here for you Bon-Bon." He ducked out of view and despite herself she ran to the door and looked out into the hallway only to find it to be empty. A hollowness rose up to meet her and she let it hang precariously in the air around her before she shoved it aside and stormed downstairs to get to the den which she had turned into her makeshift Head Quarters.

"This isn't over." She promised herself again, her voice more determined than the last time.

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><p><strong>Oh my. Let me know what you guys think!<strong>

**Stay excellent.**


	4. Chapter 4

**This one's for MystiBleu73, because that dream you had was kind of **_**awesome**_**, I don't know. I liked it :D Was literally putting the final touches on this when your review came through.**

**This is more of a 'filler', but it's needed before we can get to the good stuff. Of which there is, ah-plenty. Also, there is some swearing here, can't be helped**

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><p>Caroline Forbes was a planner. She was efficient, she was thorough and she was <em>persistent<em>. So when Damon fell back out of the sky and into Virginia she knew she had to keep going that she had to keep hoping. That's why when Lucy Bennett walked out into the morning light onto the street outside her apartment block everyone fell silent behind her. They should have known better than to think she didn't have an _actual_ plan.

"Thank you for this Lucy." Caroline said earnestly. She figured that since Bennett magic was a component of the clusterfuck that had swallowed her best friend whole so it made sense then for a Bennett witch to help make sense of it all. Lucy smiled warmly at the blonde vampire; they'd been communicating for a few weeks now, Caroline having sent her a message to inform her of Bonnie's death. Lucy had been mournful but reserved as always, she saw Bonnie's umpteenth death as an insult to their Bennett legacy. And as much as she wanted to throttle Caroline for letting it go this far while claiming to be Bonnie's best friend, Lucy also knew that when it came to the collapse of the Other Side there was nothing any of them could have done to stop it, but Bonnie shouldn't have been stuck there when it happened, which brought Lucy to her next port of call. Glaring at who she assumed to be Liv Parker Lucy shook her head in disapproval.

"Hello Caroline, Damon, whoever _you_ are and I'm assuming the one half of the reason my cousin is now stuck in purgatory." Lucy said with a tight smile. Enzo chuckled softly as his hand wound around Liv's upper arm as a precautionary act. Damon was looking around himself in confusion.

"Are we in New Orleans?" The elder Salvatore wondered and Lucy nodded when his gaze fell on her. Lucy tilted her head when she felt something pulsing from him.

"What's wrong with him?" The brown eyed Bennett witch asked with open curiosity as her eyes returned to Caroline's face.

"Remember how I said he wasn't the same when he came back?" Caroline answered her face riddled with anxiety, "Well, he keeps _hallucinating_ Bonnie, it took us five days just to get him to _understand_ that because he was seeing her everywhere. We thought it was guilt but…"

"No, no, Damon Salvatore could never muster up remorse this all-consuming." Lucy scoffed, "At least not the vampire that I was told of." She walked up to him then and held his face in her hands, gripping tighter when he tried to pull away. She closed her eyes and then a frown overcame her features. She pulled away suddenly and turned to face the other three whose eyes were locked on her in expectant silence. "He's too tired; he needs to sleep before I can make any sense of the mess that's inside of his head." She walked passed them then, "Come on in, it's time we all got to the bottom of this."

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><p>"<em>Damon? It's time." Bonnie said all business as usual.<em>

"_All right," Damon said, allowing a tentative excitement to flood his system at the prospect of them finally going home, he stepped into the sphere of light with her. "Let's get awkward." She chuckled at him but let him proceed. "I'm sure there are a billion other people you'd rather be with –"_

"_Not exactly." She countered almost immediately, her face scrunched up with the cutest expression as she gazed up at him. He smiled then, really smiled. Who'd have thought that a monster like him and a saint like her, with the history between them could ever share a moment this honest and pure between them? He certainly hadn't. Not in the beginning at least. He was about to say something in kind in return to her, let her know that he felt the same way when the Earth moved under his feet and he was pulled from her, as she was pulled from him. _

"_Bonnie!" He yelled as he tried to reach for her, but she was slipping; slipping over the jagged edges of the cave floor, she was slipping out of sight. Disappearing as she left a thick trail of crimson behind her. "_**Bonnie**_!" but it was too late, she was gone and Damon hadn't done enough to save her. He hadn't moved fast enough, thought and reacted fast enough to get them both out of hell. But _she_ had. He'd told her to leave him behind but she left herself behind yet again to get him home. "Bonnie!" _

_Damon was flipped onto his back and his vision was flooded with a startling brightness. He was outside, on the ground, in a forest of some sort. But the light was too warm, the colours too perfect for any of it to have been real. But as he sat up he recognised the woods he was in, he and Bonnie had walked through here to get to the cave where it all happened. Damon felt something twist in his chest, a heaviness, begging for freedom and as he exhaled it fell from his lips, a strangled sob that bounced off of the trees. "Bonnie." He whispered, his head hanging low in defeat. Maybe this was how it would be for the rest of his life if he didn't get her back? Maybe he'd hallucinate her for all of eternity. Serves him right for claiming that being stuck with her was his hell. Serves him right for continuously taking advantage of her along with everyone else who claimed to love her and care for her. Damon didn't want to fight this sentence that he'd been charged with – he deserved it. They _all_ did. Bonnie had always put herself last, if she put herself on the list of her own priorities at all – a mentality they all had had a hand in breeding in her consciousness. The misery was quickly swallowing Damon and he was seconds from succumbing to it. Just as his eyes didn't reopen after his slow blinking he felt the world tilt once more and he was transported to one of his fondest memories of Bonnie. _

_They were dancing; her in that vibrant orange dress and him in his usual black and leather get-up. She actually smiled at him that night after he'd had the decency to wonder about her safety in their latest quest to keep Elena alive. Damon's limbs twitched as he moved along with the memory. "Careful Damon," she'd said, "I might start to think you actually care." And Damon's breathing hitched as he lay there in the desolate forest. He should have cared; he should have let himself care for someone other than Elena. He should have but he never did, he even stopped caring about his brother – the only family he had left, and that should have been the first sign that maybe pursuing Elena wasn't the smartest option for him. But Damon wasn't smart, he didn't think, he just _did_. He killed, he fucked, he fucked people over and he'd rub salt in your wounds afterwards, because he didn't _give_ a __**fuck**__. That's the person Bonnie died for…And the knowledge of that alone was tearing him apart. An infuriated cry ripped through his chest and arched his back off of the floor, it was like all of his emotions had taken on a physical pain, and a physical representation as it tore apart his insides. His hatred for himself and Bonnie's sacrifice in his name was slamming together in his chest and he doubted he'd survive it this time._

"_Ssh, ssh, ssh, you're fine," Bonnie whispered softly, frantically, "I'm right here." She pulled him up and held him in her small arms, rubbing circles in his back as he slowed his breathing and pulled himself to her. "Breathe, Damon, I need you to breathe." He tried to heed her words but he was too focused on her fluttering heart as it thrummed through her chest and into his ears. "Breathe." She commanded softly, her voice soothing his insides. Flooding over the pain, smoothing the sharp edges of his heart, slowing his thoughts, bringing him back to himself._

"_Bonnie." He whispered and he felt her chin on top of his head, moving his hair as she nodded. _

"_I'm here."_

"_Don't go – nothing makes sense when you leave." Damon whimpered, so fragile and so vulnerable in that moment, but he couldn't berate himself for it…he was too tired and he was getting so _cold_ as she held him. But he didn't mind the cold; it was nicer than the coldness of his reality. _

"_Damon you need to wake up." Bonnie's voice said as his eyes fluttered back closed. "You need to go home."_

"_No, I left you once before and look what happened to me. We should have _stayed_ Bonnie; we should have stayed where we were."_

"_No Damon you're wrong." She said adamant as always that he stayed hopeful. "That was no life to live."_

"_And _this_ is?" He rebutted, feeling himself slowly turn to ice when she pushed him off of her with a horrified gasp. He opened his eyes gingerly and lifted an arm into view. He was literally turning to ice and the look on Bonnie's face was one of horror._

"_Damon you need to wake up!" She yelled out. "You need to _go_!"_

"_If you won't let me stay here then I promise you I'll find you, I owe you that much." She shook her head._

"_You don't owe me _anything_; I didn't save you to make you live a life indebted to me."_

"_Of course not," Damon agreed, his awareness coming back to him slowly as the warmth returned to his body, "Which is exactly why I have to save you. Because you deserve to be saved Bonnie."_

"_Damon you need to wake up." She said again, the sight of her blurring before his eyes. Her short brown hair, that white dress, the bare feet, the perfect dazzling teeth. "Wake _up_."_

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><p>"Damon wake <em>up<em>!" Enzo shouted right into his friend's face, his own expression overrun with panic. Damon hadn't woken up in the last twenty four hours. First they thought it was him catching up with sleep but then a sense of dread clawed at Enzo's chest. Why the hell were they letting a man hell bent on losing his mind, _stay_ in his mind for that long a time? Enzo shook Damon once more and laughed deliriously as blue eyes shot open and Damon sucked in a startled breath. Damon grunted and shoved Enzo away, his eyes flying over his surroundings as he tried to catch his bearings. He moaned as he slumped forward a little, he was light headed and confused. Caroline sped to his side and held out a blood bag for him, which he drained in a matter of moments. He exhaled sharply before looking up to lock eyes with Lucy.

"Do you think he's ready?" Lucy asked, her eyes on Caroline, Damon felt when the blonde shrugged in response. Damon found himself thinking someone was missing, had someone else come with them?

"As ready as he'll ever be." Caroline said. Lucy nodded and walked slowly towards Damon.

"Alright Salvatore," she said as she dropped to her haunches at the edge of the bed Damon had woken up on, "It's time for me to take a walk through your head and see just what happened when my cousin sent you home without her."

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><p><strong>Next chapter we start off with some Bad-Ass Bonnie and the first steps to getting her home. Because she <strong>_**deserves**_** to come home, dammit.**

**Stay excellent.**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Bow-chicka wah-wow**_**, would you look at that, ball's still rolling on this one. I feel bad, only a little because I can hear my other fics calling me but I can't get this one out of my head so I gotta get it down somewhere. **

**Let's do this!**

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><p>"Channelling," Bonnie read aloud from her grimoire, waving her hand to mute the sounds of Kai screaming blue murder as the flames she'd erected as walls around the Salvatore Boarding House engulfed him when he found himself frozen in place. Bonnie kicked the door closed, chewing on a piece of toast as she went on reading, "Is mostly done through the elements, earth, wind, fire and water," she rolled her eyes at that, "But there is a fifth element that some have managed to harness in order to ensure the efficacy and success of a larger spell." Her steps slowed at that, how in the hell had she never read this passage before? "The fifth element is the most volatile of all elements and requires well-trained precision, unflappable control as well as all four other elements to be in synergy. Only then can the environment for the fifth element be fully achieved for a successful spell casting." Bonnie's eyes bulged as she looked up from the page and then back down, "The fifth element…is human emotion." Her heart dropped. "Are you <em>kidding<em> me?!" She exclaimed, jumping a little when something exploded outside. She looked over her shoulder and frowned before making her way to the den, her walk skidding to a stop as she took in the sight of 'Damon' staring out into the back yard through the stained glass windows. Closing her grimoire, she sighed softly.

"Find something?" He asked without turning around and she trudged down the steps and walked until she was standing next to him. She didn't look at him though, she'd had enough of that already, and the disappointment that weighed her down each time he disappeared was too much for her to deal with right now. She had to focus.

"There's this thing called the fifth element," Bonnie said, as she watched the fire die down outside, her slim fingers trailing over the patters on the glass in front of them, "It's _emotion_."

"Emotion?" He echoed as he looked down at her and she nodded.

"Apparently without the ascendant that brought Kai here, I need all four of the original elements in complete synergy as well as the perfect channelling of human emotion." Bonnie explained, "I'm guessing the one that would have sent him back is _hatred_." She said with a knowing sneer, she was getting bored of killing him all the time, but it was either that or live in fear and let him have all the control and she wasn't _for_ that anymore. Kai had lost his sinister edge the minute Bonnie got used to the thought of killing him. It's not like he stayed dead so it was all fair in her mind.

"Which one would you use to send me back?" Damon wondered and she looked at him then, really looked at him and she sighed.

"I don't know…_compassion_?" Bonnie suggested and Damon snickered at that before throwing an arm over her shoulder and steering her out of the den and upstairs to the hallway and they stopped between her room's door and his.

"You hardly ever go into my room." Damon said, "You've gone in there twice, once when you first hallucinated me and then another time to get a few of my shirts…which, by the way I _knew_ you liked." Bonnie swatted at his chest as they stood in front of his bedroom door.

"It didn't feel right with you not being here." Bonnie admitted, her eyes dropping down. Damon sighed and pushed the door open with his free hand.

"Come on," he said, pulling her into his room, "You've already killed Kai, made some headway with the whole spell thing and you look like you haven't slept in _months_ and I know it's only been about four days but how _about_," he pushed her then, laughing when a surprised gasp left her mouth as she fell face first into the mattress, "We lie down for a while."

"Kai isn't actually dead." Bonnie pointed out, moving to sit up and get off of his bed, "You know that."

"Yes, but it's like ten in the morning, he's gonna be dead for a few hours." Damon countered, shoving her back down and moving her over so that he could lie down as well. Bonnie curled up into a ball facing him and he turned to her and rolled his eyes. Without saying a word and glaring at her when she looked set to protest, Damon pulled her to his chest and patted her back.

"Shut up and sleep." He commanded and she sighed sadly.

"You won't be here when I wake up will you?" Bonnie asked, already knowing the answer.

"Probably not, but the fact that you want me to be is why I'll always keep coming back to you." Her heart contracted at his words but she couldn't help when her eyes grew heavy.

"I don't want to be alone Damon." She said, her voice tired, followed with a small yawn. He rubbed her back and pulled her even closer.

"I'm always here Bon-Bon," he said softly, "Whether you can see me or not, there's a part of me, _this part_, that will always belong to you."

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><p>A small part of Damon was aware that his mind was being read. But by now he was so used to 'falling down the rabbit' hole so to speak that it felt familiar to him, comfortable as he listened to Lucy chant, her fingertips pressed against the sides of his face. Images flashed through his consciousness at break neck speed. Slowly but surely all the images began to be sifted through and sorted until only memories of Bonnie spun through his mind. Like a reel of nostalgia, her scowling at him, setting him on fire, smiling at him, saving his life…<p>

Damon's body jerked as that memory passed through him for the millionth time it seemed. Each time he remembered Bonnie's sacrifice was as fresh as the initial shock at her actions. He heard Lucy's rhythm change as she chanted; something must have caught her attention. In his mind's eyes he could see a specific image coming towards him. It was blurry though and it hurt his head when he tried to focus on it and he was detachedly aware of the groan that slipped through his teeth as she scoured his mind. Lucy's voice grew deeper then, more determined and the pain blossomed into a fuller sensation and Damon heaved and writhed uncomfortably as she continued reading him.

"Is it working?" he heard Caroline ask, but her voice sounded small and distant, like she was miles away but also right in his ear and it was disorientating trying to hone in on its location. So he stopped, and brought his attention back to Bonnie. To Damon, _now_, whenever he thought of Bonnie he could have been anywhere. Especially when his eyes were closed like they were now. Hallucinating her was fraying the line between reality and his imagination, Damon pondered as Lucy dug a little deeper into his consciousness.

"_Fuck_." He grunted, his frame stiff from the pressure he was under because of the spell. All he wanted to do was pull away from Lucy, catch his breath and then maybe try again in a few minutes. Why was this taking so long in any case?

"Yes." Lucy panted with a wince, and he heard someone gasp and the sweet smell of blood called to him before he slipped back under and was met once more with the fuzzy image that was distorting and flickering and shaking, but still not coming into focus. He was sure _his_ nose would start bleeding soon as well. She continued to chant and then something clicked into place and a bright white flooded his mind's eye before dissolving and coming into focus. "Holy shit." Lucy gasped but stayed focused with her magic. She and Damon were both seeing the same thing. Bonnie walking begrudgingly over to Damon with Sheila's grimoire hanging in the crook of her elbow while he stared out of the window of the den in his house. Him turning down to smile at her and her avoiding his gaze. Damon's breathing went haggard, he'd never _seen_ this before, _dreamt_ this before and it had certainly never _happened_. He could remember every memory between him and Bonnie, and he'd definitely remember one where there was a wall of fire flickering outside his window in front of them. Then he and Lucy watched as Bonnie began talking to him, her face serious as she explained whatever she needed to, to him. No sounds were coming from either of them but then Bonnie's voice boomed into his consciousness.

**There is a fifth element that some have managed to harness in order to ensure the efficacy and success of a larger spell**

Damon gasped and his body began to spasm, Enzo pulled Lucy off of Damon, making sure to be gentle with her, he didn't like the idea of writhing in pain at her hands. Wasn't his style. Caroline flew to Damon's side, tapping his cheeks with a little more force than necessary, not stopping until his body sagged in on itself and his eyes fluttered open.

"That never happened." He said to Lucy as he locked eyes with her as she yanked out of Enzo's grasp, the other two vampires were confused, "That thing you pulled from my head?" He went on, "It _never,_ _happened_."

"Which is why it's so damn important." Lucy said, rubbing her palms together. "Get some blood in him, we're going again."

* * *

><p>"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going <em>on<em>?!" Jeremy yelled as he stormed into Stefan's house. Sarah shuffled awkwardly behind him and Elena narrowed her eyes at the girl before tisking at her brother.

"Jer, I'm all for you moving on but isn't it a little insensitive now that there's an _actual_ chance that Bonnie's coming back?" Elena asked as she stepped towards the duo slowly, "I mean I get it, you're _mourning_ but I don't want you shoving this girl in my face when I'm trying to get _my_ best friend, your _girlfriend_, back alive."

"_Excuse_ me?" Sarah gasped, offended. Elena turned on her then and her face darkened.

"I'm _sorry_; let me make myself clearer for you. _Get_. **Out**." Elena snapped.

"Not cool Elena." Jeremy said, stepping between his sister and Sarah. Elena looked up at him then and shook her head in disapproval. Everyone in the room save for Sarah probably, knew just how much of a hypocrite Elena was being, whether she'd admit it or not.

"You can go with her then." Elena said breezily, walking forward and sheep-dogging them right out the front door. "Come back when you can be more proactive about missing Bonnie."

"You didn't have to be that harsh on him." Stefan mused aloud as she shut the door on Jeremy's shocked face.

"He has to learn some time." Elena replied, a delicate frown marring her features, "Though I suppose removing my love for Damon from my memory makes me a total hypocrite." Stefan nodded then.

"Still reading that journal?" He wondered. She shook her head and crossed her arms.

"I couldn't really, it's too weird for me, it's like trying to remember something that my mind forgot had happened. My love for Damon doesn't exist. I killed it."

"In a way, yes." Stefan agreed.

"It must hurt him." Elena said her eyes suddenly downcast. "I was selfish."

"In a way… _yes_," Stefan repeated, "But luckily for _you_, all he can think about right now whether he wants to or not, is getting Bonnie back."

"You're right," Elena said, her tone betraying the calm on her face. "First we figure out this mess, and then hopefully everything else falls back into place." Stefan nodded. But something struck a chord inside of him then, before Damon and Bonnie died, was everything actually as it was meant to be? Or had they all simply _convinced_ themselves that it was? Perhaps Damon and Bonnie represented more than a sheep saving the wolf; maybe they would change everything Mystic Falls had come to accept as the norm.

"Right," Stefan said as he dropped his cellphone charger into his duffel bag, "Everything will go back to what it was…because _that's_ why my brother is turning into an asylum tenant, to remind us of all the good times we all had _before_ he died." Elena scowled at him but didn't comment.

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><p><strong>I love how casual Bonnie is with killing Kai. Remember when I said I was a <strong>_**nice**_** person? Yeah, I'm not nice enough to let Kai get the upper-hand in this scenario. He can suck a d(bleep)k as far as I'm concerned. **

**Also, have any of you guys seen the movie **_**Fifth Element**_**? The one with Bruce Willis and Chris Tucker with crazy hair? No? Pity.**

**As always, I love reading your guys' reviews and love you all for liking this.**

**Stay excellent.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm making EVERYONE be on Team Bonnie for once in their ungrateful lives. The quest to save the witch and save the world as they know it continues!**

**All of your reviews have been incredible and they warm my heart. Each and every single one. **

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><p>"The fifth element." Bonnie mused aloud as she peered down her nose at Kai who was strewn across the front lawn of the Salvatore estate, an arrow piercing his heart. "Fire, water, wind and earth and the fifth element. Human emotion." She growled and kicked at the tufts of jade grass under her feet. Giving Kai one last fleeting glance she went back inside and replenished the walls. She'd noticed something in the last few days, the more she killed Kai, the longer it took before he came back to life seeking vengeance. She could only hope that the next time she killed him she'd get a full day of peace. It was beginning to drain her, emotionally speaking, being stuck in the endless loop of killing Kai, refuelling the protective wards and trying to understand what exactly it meant to hone in on 'human emotion'. Humans are notoriously convoluted when it came to matters of the heart; Bonnie knew this deep to the core of her being. Why else would she put up with Jeremy's wandering eyes and his suspiciously physical take on mourning her? Also, why else would Damon and Elena even be together if emotions were straightforward and simple? Bonnie sighed and rubbed at her temples. The other elements were compartmentalised even though their synergy was required, perhaps Bonnie had to compartmentalise all of the human emotions into distinct groups before focusing on one to take her home.<p>

"Happiness," she thought aloud, "Love," she kept pacing, "Hatred," she chewed her lip then, "Sorrow." She frowned and jumped when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"You're doing it wrong." Damon said playfully, grinning and wriggling his brows at her as she spun around to scowl at him. She lifted a brow and crossed her arms, she wouldn't admit it out loud, not even to _fake_ Damon, but waking up without him had been surprisingly brutal. She'd fled out of his room and hadn't gone back since. She was just glad the wards had held and she hadn't woken up to Kai instead.

"What am I doing wrong?" She asked, jutting her chin out to emphasise that she meant business.

"Human emotion. You can't compartmentalise it," He explained, "And I know that's what you're trying to do. You can't categorise _feelings_, if you could, everything would be different."

"Oh?" She pressed, hoping he'd get to a point and not just toy with her like his glittering eyes told her he was doing.

"Yup," he said, popping the 'p' and hopping up onto to the counter and swinging his legs over the edge, "Come sit," he said tugging on her arm and she sighed but humoured him and lifted herself up onto the kitchen counter with him, "Think about it," he said, throwing an arm around her shoulder and gesturing with his free hand as he spoke, "One emotion easily floods into and dictates another when we are forced to react and process how we feel about something. For example," he said, looking down at her with an odd expression then, "When you let me go instead of you, you didn't do it because you're a _wonderful_ person, you didn't do it because you felt _compassion_ for me…no, you did it because you **love** me. That's why you were able to forgive me in your heart and that's why you said there was still hope for me. You love me Bonnie, and _that_ love, as you realised it, however _small_ and _fleeting_ was able to latch onto me and the ascension device that sent me home…which is also why I'm still here." She frowned, leaning into his hold and keeping her eyes on the floor as she concentrated on his words.

"What do you mean that's why you're still here?" She asked, lifting her eyes to meet his but he had vanished into thin air. "Damon?" she called out in vain and then dropping her head into her hands, "Dammit Damon." She muttered sadly.

* * *

><p>After Lucy's third nose bleed she had given Damon a moment to recuperate and had told Enzo to keep an eye on him while she tugged on Caroline's arm into the next room where an incapacitate Liv was sitting, bound up in a chair. Caroline had to admit that in a twisted way she was impressed with Lucy. The Bennett witch had cast a spell over her spacious apartment loft that any other witch who entered was immediately bound to her will. Seconds after Liv stepped through the door Lucy had gripped her by her jaw, locked eyes with her and spelled her asleep.<p>

"Okay," Lucy began as she flexed and stretched the muscles in her upper body and her arms as she spun to face Caroline who was poking Liv's body. The sleeping witch's head rolled to the side, her form slumped over and slumbering. "Remember all those years ago when someone took Bonnie's powers from her?" Caroline frowned as she thought back.

"_Yeah_, this guy Jonas Martin who was working for Elijah." Caroline answered and Lucy nodded her head.

"Well, whatever his name was I felt it when Bonnie's powers were stripped from her, and I don't know how you feel about _this_ one," Lucy jerked a thumb in Liv's direction, "But I may have to perform the same spell on her if we have any hopes of getting Bonnie back. I'm strong, hell even stronger than her, but I'm not strong enough to delve into this _thing_ inside of Damon."

"Could you give Liv her powers back afterwards like he did?" Caroline asked the inevitable guilt seeping into her chest. Bonnie wouldn't have wanted someone to suffer to get her back home and Caroline was trying to do her best to honour her friend's memory.

"Sure, yeah," Lucy said easily, "It's actually more a case of adding another 'layer' to your magic as opposed to 'powering up'. Magic is notoriously finite, you could strip a thousand living witches of their powers and you still wouldn't be able to guarantee your own life at the end of casting a big spell. Ask our dear little Bon-Bon." Lucy smiled when she saw some confusion on Caroline's face, "Think of it _this_ way, by taking Liv's power from her temporarily I'm finding another angle to approach this situation from, a different perspective. And we need as much of that as we can get." Caroline nodded then, finally coming to understand what she was saying.

"You said that something was _inside_ of Damon…" Caroline said, her delayed realisation causing fear to creep into her tone. Lucy nodded sombrely.

"I can't tell what it is yet but I know that it has something to do with Bonnie, something _magical_ to do with her. But his…his guilt is obscuring it from me. It's literally eating him from the inside out."

"…Is it going to kill him?" Caroline asked, her voice dropping down so low that Lucy settled on reading her lips instead of seeking out the sound of her words. The two women locked eyes then and Lucy's mouth pressed into a thin line.

"I don't know." She replied honestly, "I really don't know."

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><p>"What the hell are we doing in Cape Town?" Elena asked for what felt like the twentieth time to Stefan as they walked out into the fiery heat of the Southern Hemisphere. Elena blinked rapidly, scuttling after him as he hailed down a taxi. Stuffing their things into the boot he ushered her into the cab and rattled off an address. Elena stared at him until he looked back at her, raising her brows expectantly.<p>

"Just trust me, okay?" Stefan asked tiredly and she shook her head.

"I've always trusted you Stefan, you're the one who made a habit of keeping things from me for my own 'protection'" Elena said, curling her delicate fingers around the words with a subtle disdain. Stefan sighed and ran his hands over his face before leaning back into the think upholstery of the car seat.

"We're going to figure out a way to fix Damon's hallucinations." He said finally and Elena looked at him incredulously, clearly having expected something more than that. Why hadn't he just said so in the first place? She asked him as much. "Because I need this to work Elena, I need to get my brother back." Stefan said, looking out into the pale blue summer sky as they sped to the heart of the city, leaving the airport behind in their dust.

"Then you need to trust _me_ Stefan, because I want the same thing for you. And I also want Bonnie back so she better be a part of this plan of yours."

"She is." Stefan said with a determined nod, "That's why we're here; I have a friend who's agreed to help us."

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><p>Caroline watched as Lucy crouched down in front of Liv and pressed her index finger to the girl's forehead. Liv sucked in a shuddering breath as her eyes shot open.<p>

"**Gestillan**." Lucy commanded softly and Caroline watched in fascination as Liv's eyes glazed over and her lips parted subtly as she fell under the spell of the witch in front of her. Lucy adjusted her position then and both women were aware when the other two vampires ghosted into the room, staying near the exit purely from instinct as they watched. The Bennett witch placed one hand over Liv's heart and another behind her head, holding her firmly in place. Sucking in a deep breath Lucy's hand flexed over Liv's chest, arching as her palm lifted and her nails dug into the material of the sweater right above the girl's heart. Liv's body began to shudder and her face twisted in growing discomfort. Lucy exhaled harshly and grunted and Caroline could almost see the exact moment when the power went from one body to another. Liv's body sagged once more and Lucy rotated her neck as she stood to her feet and turned to face her audience. "Damon, you're coming with me. You two, stay here, she'll be awake in the next ten minutes. Find out as much as you can about the Gemini Coven. She's human now, her hands are tied. I'll lock the door as a precautionary effort but please…_don't_ torture her. She seems compliant enough, _guilty_; use that to your advantage." Lucy walked past Caroline and Enzo and waved a hand for Damon to walk ahead of her as she turned to say one more thing to Caroline, "I'm glad you came to me with this. I guess we're all carrying our own guilt when it comes to Bonnie Bennett." Caroline nodded and then her eyes fell down to the floor. All she'd been feeling lately was guilty and sad and lost, she would never, _could never_ get used to losing Bonnie. But what scared her most of all, is that _this_ time, with the way things were looking, especially with Damon the way he was even if they did get Bonnie back – would she even be the best friend Caroline had loved for most of her life?

"Come on gorgeous," Enzo said his voice snapping her out of her despair, "We don't have time to mourn, we're finally getting close to a glimmer of hope, I need you firing at all stations." Caroline nodded and threw a weak but bright smile his way and righted her posture.

"You're right." Caroline said, turning to face Liv, "Now let's see what this whole Gemini Coven hoopla's about."

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><p><strong>Gestillan means '<strong>_**be**__**still'**_** or something (in ye Olde English). I have a thing for different dialects and languages and after brushing up on my **_**Witchypedia**_** I decided that not all chanting will be done in Latin. As sexy as it is. Also, magic takes so many forms in different cultures and over different continents so I'm bringing that into play here because if they actually put more of an effort into Bonnie's magic or magic at **_**all**_** really in TVD the show would be waaay cooler to me. **

**Because, it's magic and magic is **_**awesome**_**. **

**Stay excellent.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I've got a thing for 'Crazy'-Damon and I hope I'm doing him justice.**

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><p>Damon was thirsty. And he didn't mean in a way where he felt it was <em>fixable<em>. He hadn't felt a desire to drain like this since what he liked to refer to as the Dark-Depression. You _know_ his less 'humane' years without his brooding brother and his fickle Maker. After he saw that moment with Bonnie that hadn't happened his brain seemed to turn in on itself. Sure, before with his hallucinations and warped dreaming, Bonnie's sacrifice wasn't always recounted factually but not **one** part of whatever Lucy pulled out of his head had been there to begin with.

And that was the part that was fucking up his head.

Being sure to be as deathly quiet as possible he moved from the mattress he was on in Lucy's spare room, choosing to gloss over the fact that Enzo and Caroline were in the same bed and flashed until he stood at the front door of the witch's loft.

"And where do you think you're going?" Lucy asked, and Damon would have started if his mind wasn't reeling with bloodlust at that point. He could feel her standing behind him, within arm's reach and he had to give it to her, chick had some serious _balls_.

"_Out_." He hissed through his clenched teeth. Witches were notoriously succulent, she had better let him leave or … Damon's body was humming with confusion. One part of him wanted Lucy pressed up against the wall with his teeth lodged in her throat as he drained every last ounce of life from her but another, surprisingly bigger part of him was steeled against it because of the repercussions it would have regarding his quest to get his witch back. To get **Bonnie** back – his eyes pressed shut as he thought of her name but he needed her back. So that he could _hug_ her and _shake_ her and hopefully return to a sound state of mind. Damon spun around and locked eyes with Lucy in the dull light filtering into the apartment prior to the rising sun. "I need to feed." He explained. Lucy frowned and tilted her head to the side.

"_How_ are the blood bags already finished?" She wondered aloud and Damon's arms twitched with the want to kill her and the overpowering want to do the right thing. To keep her alive so that he could get **Bonnie** back alive. He had to remember that he needed to get Bonnie back alive. But the blood… _fuck_ did he want to drink Lucy's blood.

"I want to kill you." Damon hissed, rolling his neck and lifting his shoulders, like an animal poised for attack as he took a step towards her. She held out a hand and they both felt the pulse of power that left her fingertips. Lucy's eyes ballooned when Damon's head dropped to his chest and lifted again to meet her eye as he pursed his lips at what he thought to be a pleasant surprise. "Well, would you look at _that_." Lucy's face remained blank as she stepped away from him, Damon matching her inch for inch as they walked deeper into her loft. His eyes blurred between their blue and their ungodly black and red as he grinned wolfishly at her; his mouth stretching into something reminiscent of a shark smelling _blood_. His insides ached as the word ran through his mind. "I wonder why your magic isn't working against me." He said, his voice low, promising and deceptively seductive. "Guess we'll have to get another witch to figure that out."

"Damon stop." Lucy said, actual fear seeping into her constitution as she continued to back away from him, her eyes falling closed in defeat when she found her back against a cool glass window pane. "You _need_ me, as it stands, I am the last of the Bennett blood and that's _crucial_ in this quest to get our Bonnie back." Damon's vision flickered and for a moment he could have sworn it was Bonnie who was pressed up uncomfortably against the glass as she tried to get away from him. But reality slammed back into the foreground of his mind when her words registered.

"_Our Bonnie_?" He asked, tilting his head to the side, like Lucy had done earlier, but on him it looked like a subtle signal to a sniper stationed off in the distance, readying to carry out her death sentence. Unbeknownst to Damon Lucy had been sending spells at him in her mind as they spoke, but she tried to appear as complacent as possible – physically she didn't stand a chance against a deranged vampire. "Let's get this straight," he went on, moving until he was inches from her face, his frosty breaths fanning over her face as he spoke, "She is not **ours**. She is not **yours**. She is **mine**. She is in _my_ head, she's been haunting _my_ dreams and she's the one who saved _my_ life! As it stands between the two of us…_she_, belongs to _**me**_." Lucy nodded quickly in response trying to pacify him as best as she could.

"She's **yours**," Lucy agreed, her palms out in his direction, pressing against his heaving chest, her eyes wide and her lips parted as she tried to calm her breathing. "She's _yours_." Lucy repeated. She saw something settle in his eyes then, a swooping calmness that seemed to unnerve her even more. Never before had she met a more convoluted and volatile vampire in her life. Whatever had happened when Bonnie saved Damon instead of herself had irrevocably changed him and Lucy really hoped; if she managed to make it to the sunrise, that she could get to the bottom of it all.

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><p>Elena's face was scrunched up as she looked up at the building in front of her. For all Stefan's hoping she'd expected some sort of supernatural Asylum…Or church, or a specialist clinic at <em>least<em>. Not a triple story house in the middle of nowhere.

"Hello and Welcome to Cape Town!" A deep baritone voice boomed, refocusing her attention to the entrance of the building as she watched three people walk toward her and Stefan. Out of a residual instinct she inched closer to him, not missing how the man who had greeted her broke into a grin at her subtle gesture. "How kind of you to fear me." He added, stepping right up to Elena with a blinding smile that only highlighted the warm olive tones of his complexion. There were two women behind him, standing quietly as their eyes moved over Stefan and Elena. The man extended a muscular arm to Elena as his sparkling grey eyes danced with a playful familiarity. Elena couldn't help but take kindly to him, however slightly. She shook his hand firmly. "Call me Imran." He said by way of greeting. The way he pronounced his 'a's' was distinctly different to the American dialect but Elena found it fascinating as opposed to confusing, she'd never been to this country before.

"Imran," Elena repeated, "My name is Elena."

"Well hello Elena, and welcome to the Mother City." She smiled at that and watched as he turned to face Stefan with giddy warmth as they hugged one another. "It has been too long Stefan; you should call more than once every five years." The man said teasingly, slapping a hand onto Stefan's shoulder as he turned to gesture to the women behind him. He pointed to the girl who had a similar aesthetic to him, with olive skin and equally black hair that was cut short where Imran's fell down to his shoulders, she was also noticeably shorter and more attractive if it were at all possible, "This is my younger sister Fahada, she'll be helping too." Imran explained and then a smile so bright broke over his features that made every smile before look half-arsed in comparison. He extended a hand to the woman who had a warm brown complexion and bright hazel eyes, her thick black hair was braided into a band circling her head; flyaway ringlets falling down the sides of her face while the bulk of her hair was pulled up and away. She was incredibly beautiful, everyone present could agree, as she walked forward to greet the vampires, wearing similar loose-fitting white clothing as the other two. She stuck out a hand to Stefan first and then the same to Elena. "_This_," Imran emphasised, "Is my wife Amelia. She's the reason I moved here, did you know that?"

"I didn't." Stefan said with a small smile, peeking over his shoulder as Imran led him inside at Elena who was being ushered in by Amelia.

"Do you know what I am?" Amelia asked softly to Elena as they made their way up the steps of the home that was seaside and perfectly isolated.

"Do you know what we are?" Elena asked in return and the two women locked eyes as Amelia nodded with a smile on her face.

"Of course I do, you would not have asked had you known of _my_ nature." Elena frowned as she stepped into the foyer of the home and then her mouth fell open in amazement.

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><p>"Damon don't." Bonnie's voice called and every bone in his body went soft at the sound of her voice. He'd only just decided to drink from Lucy to make sure she understood that Bonnie was <em>his<em> and that when he said he was _hungry_ she should stay _out_ of his way. But at the sound of Bonnie's voice every angry thought fled, every desire to kill ebbed away and he turned away, his hand still around Lucy's throat from when he'd been warring over the choice to end her life or not. He twisted his neck so that he could see Bonnie, teary eyed and trembling as she took in the sight of him. "Please don't hurt her." Damon yanked himself off of Lucy whose heart was thundering in her own ears from all the adrenaline from almost losing her life. _Hell_, she still wasn't sure if she'd made it into the clear yet. Damon had just leapt off of her and turned to face the space behind him. Lucy's terror slipped away and something else slivered forward to greet her as he took in the sight of Damon from behind. His shoulders had drooped, like all the fight had fled his body and she could have sworn she'd just heard him whimper as he took a step forward.

"_Bonnie_." Damon said and fell to his knees. Lucy's eyes widened, there was no one else in the room, no inkling of magic coming from somewhere – there was nothing, yet she continued to watch. Damon's eyes began to blur as he watched Bonnie fall to her knees in front of him. He was aware that Lucy was still there and still watching but it didn't faze him in the slightest. Bonnie was here, that was all that mattered. "Bonnie where have you been?" he wondered aloud and he felt her hands on the sides of his face as she ran the pads of her thumbs over the skin just beneath his eyes so he'd open them fully.

"Damon I need you to focus on what I'm about to say." Bonnie said her voice as hard as he'd ever heard it. This was unusual. He stared at her and swallowed, doing his best to clear and focus his brain. Nodding, he indicated for her to talk. "You need to let me go." She said and Damon's face warped into a sneer. He wasn't aware of it but Enzo and Caroline had entered the room and after Caroline had flashed to Lucy's side to make sure she was okay the trio turned to watch. Enzo kneeled before his friend, noticing that Damon's eyes were completely glossed over and unresponsive. Damon meanwhile was glaring at Bonnie.

"I'm not letting you go." Damon said, watching as tears fell from Bonnie's face. Enzo looked up at Lucy, having heard Damon clearly, who motioned for him to move away from Damon. She mouthed out that he was hallucinating and that it wasn't safe to be near him. To which Enzo scoffed, but put some distance between himself and Damon as he continued to watch his friend go through the motions of his hysteria. "Bonnie, I'm never letting you go." Caroline's eyes ballooned as she stood next to Lucy. In Damon's mind he saw Bonnie pull him closer, he felt her small arms close around him as she held him and cried. Damon's body fell over but in his mind he simply fell into Bonnie's hold. "You're mine." He muttered before he slipped back into sleep.

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><p><strong>Short-ish I know but HEY. <strong>_**Next Chapter**_** we get some enlightenment regarding this 'thing' that's happening between Damon and Bonnie.**

**You are all wonderful and great and fantastic and lovely and WONDERFUL. Thank you so much!**

**Stay excellent.**


	8. Chapter 8

**This is one goes out to Miss Cuddles.**

**As always you lot are **_**wonderful**_** and **_**incredible**_** and inspire me so much when I write this.**

**This is a Bamon-heavy chapter. Not that anyone will be complaining ;)**

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><p>"<em>You are mine! And we'll see if one tree won't go as crooked as another, with the same wind to twist it!<em>" Caroline read in hushed whispers as she sat on the edge of the window sill in Lucy's loft. Closing the copy of _Wuthering Heights_ in her hand she put it back on the pile in the corner of the window and stood to her feet. She was growing weaker, she could feel it. Damon had completely depleted their bagged blood supply, which hadn't fazed Enzo in the slightest but it had irked Caroline. She thought back to when she had first transitioned into a vampire and Bonnie had run for the hills. It had hurt then but Caroline understood it now. Bonnie had tried to do right by her, as Bonnie always did, and Caroline ended up being used as a pawn in Katherine's games. But Bonnie being Bonnie, was struggling with her hate for vampires and her hand in 'killing' her best friend. Something twisted in Caroline's chest as she thought of Bonnie and a hand flew to the point of pain as she frowned, pressing her fingertips into the skin to try and soothe it. This was much worse than when Tyler left, because he'd made a choice, it was worse than her father deciding not to turn, because again it was a choice. Caroline _knew_ Bonnie, Bonnie never made a choice for herself; Bonnie dedicated her life to everyone _but_ herself. Bonnie had never seen herself as someone who _had_ a choice – there were always these insane requests waiting for her, where her life was never a matter of concern and the truth stung Caroline's eyes.

She wasn't surprised Bonnie sent Damon back instead of herself when it came down to it, it angered her, and saddened her sure, but it didn't surprise her. What did surprise Caroline however, the only one who'd managed to get them anywhere _near_ Bonnie …was Damon. After he muttered that part about her being his, Caroline was shocked. All she'd ever heard from either Salvatore was 'Elena this…Elena that…Woe is me and my Katherine history, blah, blah Doppelganger sire-bond bullshit, I hate my brother but I'll always love him yadda-yadda.'

"Here." Lucy called out, walking up to Caroline with a something in her hands, "Your assumedly British lover and I went to procure some blood just now, this should help tide you over until my friend drops off some more blood for you lot." Caroline made a concerted effort to ignore the part about Enzo being her 'assumedly British lover'.

"Thank you so much." Caroline said with a grateful smile as she took the warm mug held out to her, taking a quick sniff before swallowing the contents all at once. With a sheepish expression, much to Lucy's amusement Caroline toyed with the empty mug in her hands.

"Oh, so I was reading through the words you managed to compel out of Liv," Lucy went on, walking to her large wooden desk that was covered in books, pages and diagrams, "For some reason when she's asked about the Gemini Coven she reverts to _Slovenian_ dialect," Lucy shot a quick look of frustration in Caroline's direction before she continued scouring her notes, "I think it was meant as a failsafe in case she was one day stripped of her powers…You said that she said something along the lines of _Zest_-tra Zivvy?" Lucy asked, sounding it out and Caroline nodded as she stood beside the woman who had some sort of list printed out on a page in her hands. Before Caroline could even make sense of what the hell she was reading Lucy dropped the page. "I think what she said was 'Sestra' and perhaps 'Živi' that's all that makes sense when you cross-reference the pronunciation and the pre-existing words of the language." Caroline didn't even want to think how long it would have taken her to find the language let alone decipher what a compelled spell-bound ex-witch spluttered about a Coven she didn't want anyone knowing about.

"Why do you think it's those two words?" Caroline asked as Lucy put her hand on her hip.

"Well didn't you say Damon mentioned something about this Kai fellow having killed everyone but his sister?" the witch asked. Caroline's stomach fluttered at the memory and she nodded, crossing over her arms. "_Well_," Lucy went on, "Then I _am_ sure. Because Liv said 'The sister, she lives'."

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><p>Bonnie knew why she was having trouble with the <em>fifth element<em> thing. She had to channel how she felt about herself to get her back home and she wasn't someone who'd made a habit of giving herself much thought. _And_, considering how crucial this specific instance was regarding her utter disregard for herself, it was really coming back to bite her in the ass. In a twisted way she could almost feel her Grams' disappointment, Bonnie had made a habit of putting herself last and now it was the only thing standing in her way from finally putting herself _first_ and getting herself home and back to her friends and her real world. Growling in frustration she didn't even jump or react at all for that matter when Damon came to sit down next to her on the floor in the den. She flipped a page over in her Grimoire with more force than necessary and she could almost _feel_ him smiling at her.

"_Yes_ Damon?" Bonnie asked when the silence pressed on. She looked up and they locked eyes.

"You're running out of time Bonnie." He said simply, his face suddenly very serious and she frowned in response.

"In case you forgot this is an _eternal_ purgatory." She pointed out, huffing and looking back down at her spell book. Damon moved then and shoved the book out of the way. He pulled her face up firmly and held her chin between his fingers, holding fast as she tried to move out of his grip.

"_You_ Bonnie," he clarified, "_You're_ running out of time. This can't be your world much longer, you need to push _hard_ and _fast_ with this spell and come back to me." Bonnie did yank herself out of his grip then, and her face was flushed with a flurry of emotions, the most prevalent being anger.

"See that's _another_ thing you seem to be forgetting," Bonnie said, crossing her arms protectively over her chest, "_You_ don't exist in the real world." Bonnie pointed out.

"I don't?" Damon questioned, still in her space as the eyed each other out testily from where they sat, "If I don't exist here on this plane then you won't exist back home."

"What the hell are you even talking about?" Bonnie spat, she was getting tired of hallucinating him, he only brought more headaches and heart ache at the repetitive remembrance of her letting him go home and staying behind.

"I'm talking about why you never questioning why I'm still _here_ Bonnie, I'm talking about the fifth element and I'm talking about _us_." Bonnie didn't bother hiding her appalled confusion.

"If you think I don't wonder why you're still here every day then you don't know me at **all** Damon, or whatever or _whoever_ you are. And I know it's not the _real_ Damon because he would never refer to what is or for the matter what **isn't** between us as an 'us'." Damon laughed then, a boisterous, condescending sound and Bonnie was met with an expression more suited to the vampire she first met back when she found out she was a witch.

"Don't even go there with me." Damon hissed, getting right in her face as he scowled at her, "You and I both know we are a far cry from sworn enemies, even when we were on Earth. You and I Bonnie…_Me_, I ca- I **love** you and I _**know**_ you love me. You wouldn't have done something like that for someone you can't even _tolerate_. That ideology is about as plausible as thinking you and Kai stand a snowballs chance in hell as a couple. Bonnie…I need you to hear me and to understand me…_**we**_ _**love each other**_. You need to hone in the fifth element and come back home…come back to _me_."

"How the hell am I going to do that and _how_ are you still here?" Bonnie asked, lifting herself up so that they were eye to eye, "And don't you dare disappear on me when I need a straight answer from you."

"You need to learn how to love yourself to get yourself back, how to fully put yourself first for once in your life – that's how you get home…as for me…well, I'm here because we both messed up. Something, that I don't even think has ever _existed_ before was borne when you sent me home with that ascension device; the fifth element was alive and well went you sent me away from you…and now that's why I'm here," he said waving around him, "Because I'm in _here_." He pointed to her heart then and smiled. A dazzling bright smile. He looked over his shoulder and Bonnie felt her heart contract painfully.

"Don't leave." She asked, she'd allowed herself to get used to him, to start to seek out his presence and it was too late to turn away, she couldn't deny any part of the bond between her and Damon now, she was just scared because she found herself relying on it so damn much, "Just five more minutes."

"The fifth element is far more important than seeing my face right now." Damon said, planting a soft kiss to her forehead and tapping her nose after he pulled away. "Come _home_." And then, just like that he was gone. Bonnie stared at the space that he'd occupied for a few quiet moments before she replenished the wards with a wide sweep of her arms and then went upstairs. As she moved to take the next step in her ascension her eyes fluttered closed of their own volition and she fell down onto the stairwell awkwardly, her body suddenly limp and lifeless.

* * *

><p>Damon hadn't woken up since he'd staked his claim on Bonnie and Enzo was growing wary once more but he was doing his best to listen to Lucy and not interfere. Thanks to his keen vampiric senses, he noticed distinctly when Damon's body shuddered and then went impossibly still, like something had switched off somewhere inside as he lay there. Enzo called out for the women in the other room without hesitation, keeping his eye on Damon's haunted form.<p>

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><p>Damon and Bonnie didn't know it at first, but they were both in the same space for the first time since they'd been sucked into the alternate universe. They both recognised the bright jade trees of the warmly lit forest that they traversed to get to the cave to use the ascension device. They also didn't know that a link had been formed between the two of them through the fifth element when Bonnie sent him back after Damon had insisted <em>she<em> leave without _him_. That mutual love and synchronicity of the other elements as well as the ascension device and the solar eclipse had bred an unprecedented bond. And now, with them being apart, they were both slowly losing their minds, one faster than the other plagued by a distinct guilt. Bonnie's small feet made quick work of the path she assumed she was dreaming through. Then, a twig snapped somewhere off in the distance, echoing until the small sound thrummed right into her ear. She spun around but didn't see anyone.

"Damon?" She hoped aloud, her heart picking up its pace. Kai could be anywhere. "Damon, tell me that's you."

"_Bonnie_?" She heard a disbelieving gasp and turned back to her original direction and saw a silhouette standing far away, barely discernable between the trees even though it was clearly clad in black. The figure began running then, "Bonnie!" he called out and she knew it was him so she leapt into an outright sprint to get to him. A frown marred her features as she felt the wind pick up and begin to tug her petite body back in the direction she came. "Bonnie!" Damon called again, and she could have sworn she saw as his leather jacket was tugged off of him by the wind and promptly forgotten as he kept chasing towards her. She kept pushing as well, as vicious as the unnatural sudden vortex tried to pull them apart. But she had to get to him, she knew that much. She felt it right down into her bones …dammit, right in her soul, that the second she could touch him it would all be okay. So she dug her shoes into the earth and propelled herself forward. The details of Damon's aesthetic became more and more evident and he broke out into a wide smile, even as the wind pulled at his hair and clothes. Damon watched as Bonnie ran towards him, her small body barely moving forward with the impossible wind desperate to keep them from one another. Damon managed a burst of vampire speed and they were metres apart then.

"Damon!" She called, a naked relief threatening to strangle her voice as he got closer to her. Voices began to swirl around them, calling their names, telling them to come back, away from each other but they fell on deaf ears as Damon and Bonnie got in reaching distance of one another. Without thinking twice about it Damon launched himself at Bonnie, catching her body in his strong arms and twisting them around so that they landed on him. As they landed the world around them fell silent and still. Bonnie looked down at Damon as he stared up at her.

"I'm not getting cold." Damon said, his arms tightening around Bonnie's waist as she used a free hand to poke his chest, wondering why he was wearing black again. He was still lying on his back with Bonnie on top of him, neither of them at all opposed to the familiar contact.

"What do you mean you aren't getting cold?" Bonnie wondered with a frown, lifting her eyes up to him.

"When I touch you I get cold, you _know_ this, when I hallucinate you." Damon explained.

"I hallucinate _you_, Damon." Bonnie said with that _you're-an-idiot_ tone he'd missed so much. They both froze with a sudden tentative yet overwhelming realisation. As they locked eyes something impossibly extraordinary happened. Both Damon and Bonnie watched as one eye they were looking into changed colour. Damon's one eye turned a brilliant emerald hue while one of Bonnie's paled to a bright blue.

"_**No way**_." The both muttered in dumfounded awe.

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><p><strong>HOLY MOLY LANA WHAT DID YOU <strong>_**DO**_**?!**

**Hee hee**

**Stay excellent.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Damn this fic for not getting out of my head. Here's another update!**

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><p>When Bonnie came to her forehead was pressed into the sharp corner of a staircase and it hurt like a <em>bitch<em>. She struggled to her feet, looking around momentarily as she sent out her magical sensors around the boarding house to make sure she was still alone and protected by the wards. When she was confident that she was she made her way up the rest of the stairs and stopped between her and Damon's doors, sighed and stepped into his room. Everything was clean and neat as she'd come to expect it to be but she moved through to his adjoined bathroom. She imagined that back on Earth he was doing the same thing now, staring into the wide panel of glass against his wall in his bathroom. She gasped as she saw the gash on her forehead, returning to the present moment. She leaned a little closer to the mirror and then yelped again when she saw the colour of her eyes. Or rather, the _colours_. One of her eyes was blue – like, _Damon Salvatore_ blue. Images of Damon came to her then in bright flashes and snippets as she recalled him running to her and catching her and wondering if she were real or not. And then they watched as their eyes changed. The voices had picked up again then, and Bonnie'd heard Caroline's voice, as well as Enzo's, calling to Damon and it warmed her heart. The fact that Caroline was looking out for Damon was great. Bonnie frowned a little as she inspected the wound on her forehead and made sense of her thoughts. Before she even thought of going back to the den to get the medical supplies the wound began to close. All Bonnie could do was watch in open-mouthed shock as the gash healed itself before her very eyes.

"What the hell just happened?" She gasped.

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><p>When Damon came to he had three supernaturals looming over him looking like he was on his death bed. And maybe he was, because he'd just had the strangest dream about Bonnie. Before he could recount the memory of it Caroline gasped and pointed at his face.<p>

"What the hell is that?!" She squeaked and even Lucy managed to look taken aback while Enzo peered a little closer to Damon's face before an 'oh' expression took his features.

"What?" Damon huffed groggily. How long had he been out?

"Your eye!" Caroline accused, and Damon would have snapped at her if it hadn't all fallen into place just then. He flashed to the nearest mirror and couldn't help but jump back at the sight of him. His one eye was a sharp malachite colour that offset jarringly with his other pale blue eye. It all flooded back into his consciousness then, the forest, the running, Bonnie, the wind and the voices …and the realisation that it was _actually_ Bonnie he'd held in his arms and not the version his mind had been torturing him with for the last few weeks.

"Bonnie." He whispered softly as he touched the reflection of his now green eye. Caroline appeared behind him and spun him around.

"Why is your one eye the _exact_ colour of Bonnie's?" She wondered, an edge in her voice. An edge made of confusion, apprehension and worst of all, _hope_.

"Because I just saw her." Damon said, with his first genuine smile since he'd returned to them, "I _actually_ saw her Caroline."

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><p>Elena still couldn't wrap her head around it. Imran was a cognitive scientist and vampire, born of Arabic descent, who dedicated his life to finding cures and spells for wrongfully cursed supernaturals. His wife Amelia was a witch who'd managed to extend her life even though she was solely a practitioner of white magic. Her and Imran worked together to figure out mental spells that befell supernaturals and reversed them. Their home was a wide expanse of rare artwork, pale blue and alternately white walls with scatterings of scientific paraphernalia, a large library and a small medical centre on the third floor that was filled with books, tools and equipment to help cure …well, pretty much everything. Everything to do with the <em>mind<em> that is. When Elena asked Stefan how old Fahada and Imran were he couldn't answer her, he just shrugged and said old enough to be the best in the business of supernatural cognitive science. Which, by the way, Elena had yet to really grasp.

"Cognitive science," Imran said with a warm smile as he appeared beside Elena and one of his smaller statues in one wing of his house, "The interdisciplinary scientific study of the mind and its processes…" He bumped his shoulder gently with hers as he too faced the artwork she'd been looking at, "_Supernatural_ cognitive sciences…far more complex and painstaking, but no less possible and plausible." Elena liked the sound of his voice as he spoke and she found herself seeing the words in her mind's eyes as she formed his sentences. She'd recently become very inclined to medicine, so anything that brushed on her field of interest caught her attention.

"Mind breaking it down for me?" She asked, peeking up at him and he shook his head with a smile.

"Not at all," Imran said, "In fact you'd be doing _me_ a favour, my wife and sister have long tired of listening to my ramblings." He'd leaned in and whispered the last part conspiratorially. She laughed at that and waited for him to continue, "Shall we go for a walk?" she nodded and seconds later they stood outside the house and Imran walked off and Elena spotted pale mounds of sand in the near distance as she jogged to catch up with him and fall in line. "It revolves around behavioural and intelligence research regarding the ways information is represented, processed and transformed within the human nervous system. This of course filters down into things such as perception, language, memory, reasoning and emotion," they walked slowly and in tandem down the soft flat beach as he spoke, "Very _human_ things, the same elements become infinitely more intricate and delicate in our supernatural world…"

"So with your scientific reasoning you can get to where and what the problem is and your wife has the power to rectify it?" Elena inquired and Imran nodded as he walked with his hands clasped behind his back.

"That is correct young vampire." He said and she dipped her head as she smiled. "Tell me, how do you know my friend Stefan?" he asked.

"We dated." Elena answered easily enough and Imran nodded. She looked at him then and saw the question in his eyes, "And yes, I am aware that I look like the woman who turned him in the first place." Imran raised his hands then.

"It's none of my business but I do sense unresolved tension between you two, perhaps tension is too strong a word." He mused looking up at the bright summer sky, "it's more of a conversation that needs to be had I think." He looked back down at Elena as he returned his hands to their folded position behind him and Elena tucked her hair behind her ears as she nodded. She looked out to the churning waters and blew out a deep breath.

"We do." she agreed, "There are many things I have to fix, but I have to get Stefan his brother back and make sure that when I get my best friend home that she'll be okay too." Imran nodded and grinned then.

"Aren't you lucky you met my Amelia then?" he asked, his disposition impossibly infectious and Elena smiled.

"Thank you for helping us." Elena added on hastily, "I don't know what else there is that we could do."

"Never _worry_ about things, worrying accomplishes nothing, it's when you take matters into your own hands or succumb to the truths of your circumstance that things turn out as they should be." Elena looked at him then, really looked as she processed his words.

"You're so smart." She muttered and he snickered as they kept walking.

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><p>Bonnie didn't know why she suddenly looked like she'd gone blind in the one eye but she didn't have time to dwell on something as cosmetic and nonsensical as her <em>eye<em> colour. She needed to get home. 'Damon' was right, she'd been losing her mind being here alone and stuck with Kai. Taking one last look in the mirror Bonnie turned and ran down the stairs and grabbed her pre-packed bag. She looked at the clock and realised she had an hour until the eclipse happened. An hour to hone in all five elements and get the hell of **hell**. She hesitated at the door, only for an instant before high-tailing it to Damon's Camaro and driving like Vin Diesel.

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><p>"Honestly to me it doesn't sound like he's been hexed or even that it's a 'hallucination' in the tradition sense of the word," Amelia was saying as she and Stefan sat opposite each other in her sea-facing windows-for-walls office. Fahada was sitting in a corner scribbling furiously in a book, no one needing her assistance of yet.<p>

"How so?" Stefan replied, his brows furrowing, there was nothing traditional about hallucinations as far as he was concerned but if it wasn't that then what on Earth were they dealing with?

"Well you said he had returned from an alternate universe, a different dimension," she continued after he nodded, "That means that there are a whole new set of rules at play; in that, there are _no_ rules." She chewed her full bottom lip then as she looked down at the notes she'd taken throughout Stefan's debriefing of his brother's condition, "Inter-dimensional magic can accomplish anything. If the witch he left wanted him to, she could have guaranteed him a lifetime of misery for sending him back home." Stefan frowned.

"Bonnie would never do that." He insisted, and rightfully so. Of all the awful things he and Damon had done not once had Bonnie turned around and hurt them maliciously or without provocation. She was much too good and too quintessentially _pure_ for that. Amelia nodded then.

"You mentioned she was once involved with Expression." Amelia pointed out and Stefan nodded, running his hands over his face tiredly, they'd been at this for hours.

"Yes but even then she never hurt any of us. It was incredible." Amelia concurred with a business-like nod of head.

"Incredible and damn-near _impossible_," The witch replied, "You don't understand the amount of control and power this Bonnie Bennett must have employed in her arsenal to even survive something like that. And then she kills herself saving Elena's brother, is brought back by _your_ brother Damon as an Anchor and then she and he die as the _Other Side_ collapses before they are set to return to the real dimension." Amelia tapped the tip of her pen on her notepad as she mulled it over. "This Bonnie Bennett shouldn't have saved Damon, it wasn't supposed to end that way, if she had any sense she would have either found a way for them both or just saved herself. It's what any witch would have done in the same situation – especially in the context of their relationship as described by you." Amelia and Stefan locked eyes then. "No offense, I'm sure you love your brother very much and you must be glad he's back." Amelia added on as she remembered what she'd said suggesting Bonnie saving herself instead.

"You're both wrong." Fahada spoke up for the first time, both supernaturals immediately facing her as she sat awkwardly in her seat. Her voice was light and soft, gentler than a caress as it called to their attention. She fidgeted a little, pushing back her choppy fringe from her picturesque face. Her eyes moved between the two of them. "_Amelia_," she said, her eyes widening as she emphasised the woman's name with an Arabic lilt in her voice, "There is more than magic at play here." She insisted with a point of her pencil.

"Explain yourself my love." Amelia said, sitting back in her chair and turning it to face the vampire girl. Fahada swallowed and nodded, looking to Stefan who was still staring at her. She closed her book and placed it in her lap, folding her hands over it. Fahada groaned inwardly, never liking to have any kind of attention on herself for a moment too long. Sighing, she steeled her frame before she spoke again.

"I've met many witches in my time," She began, "From all over the world and not _once_ Stefan Salvatore," Stefan felt a little something unfurl in his chest at the pronunciation of his name by Fahada, "Not once has a witch put herself last the way this Bonnie does without love to force their hand." Stefan nodded.

"Bonnie does everything she does out of love." The youngest Salvatore agreed but Fahada rolled her eyes at him and he frowned.

"And that is my point!" She said, leaning forward in her chair, "Bonnie sent Damon back instead of getting them _both_ back or just herself. Something obviously forced her hand and made her decide between herself and Damon….and she chose him." Fahada widened her eyes for emphasis, "She _loves_ him Stefan." With that she huffed a little and went back to writing in her book. "Why else would she have damned herself so?"

And all Stefan could do was stare at the petite vampire with lightning bolts for eyes as she went on like the world hadn't just fallen off of its axis.

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><p><strong>Imran, Fahada and Amelia warm my heart! LOL at Stefan not seeing the Bamon love from a mile away…<strong>_**silly goose**_**.**

**Plus, I think I've put it off long enough. Let's get our Bonnie back**

**I mean…Damon's Bonnie – let's get **_**Damon's**_** Bonnie back.**

**Stay excellent.**


	10. Chapter 10

"**Now" by Paramore is the perfect song for this. **_**Yes**_**, yes it is.**

**GUYS, **_**GUYS**_** – This is my favourite effing chapter so far (is that weird to say?) I loved writing it so much and lord help me but I gave MYSELF the feels with this!**

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><p>Bonnie pulled air through her teeth as she parked Damon's car at a horrid angle, like she was want to do with a psycho hot on her heels. Killing the engine she ran and didn't stop until she got near the cave. Once she was about to step in, she lit up the surrounding area with a wall of fire that reached about two metres high. She didn't know if it was the adrenaline but she grew stronger as she felt the heat pushing at her, ushering her away and into the cave so that she could get home. She hurried down and dropped the back pack onto the floor and pulled out what she'd need. She yanked out a candle, two small bowls and a thick white feather. Hurriedly she filled one bowl with water and another with thick sand she'd gotten from the Salvatore garden. She ran her eyes hastily over everything, nodded to herself and began to chant.<p>

"_Introduc quator elementa. Ut omnes unum sint. Ignis, Terra, Venta Neque Aquam. Ut omnes unum sint. Voco invicem quintem et ultimum. Unum illud mihi et fac_." The candle was soon lit as she continued to chant, the bowls of water and earth remained still as their content began to lift and swirl into the smallest cylindrical shapes as a magical breeze moved them. Finally the feather lifted and the items moved together as one as she raised her hands and continued the chant. She felt the exact moment when the solar eclipse took place. "_Introduc quator elementa. Ut omnes unum sint. Ignis, Terra, Venta Neque Aquam. Ut omnes unum sint. Voco invicem quintem et ultimum. Unum illud mihi et fac_." She heard Kai yelling off in the distance but paid him no mind. She felt something building in her chest and one image flooded her mind's eye. It was her, just sitting on a bed with Elena floating feather's with the biggest smile on her face. Before all the bloodshed, the violence and the heartache. She was a happy teenaged girl who'd just found another thing that made her special in her loved one's eyes. Bonnie felt tears falling in the present moment and that _sensation_, that swirling _something_ in her chest grew and warmed every part of her body. She watched as her mouth moved in her recollection of the memory.

"_**I'm a witch**_."

Bonnie felt her world tilt as she fell into the blinding white light that had ignited around her and swallowed her whole.

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><p>Damon gasped as he came to once more. When he'd fallen asleep was anyone's guess.<p>

"Bonnie!" He hissed and he heard Enzo groaning as he shot upright and looked around. "No, no, no, no, you don't understand, we need to go back. We have to go back!" Damon exclaimed, shaking Enzo where he was slouched over on the other bed before flashing out of the room to find everyone else. "Pack the ex-witch, Bonnie's back!" he flashed away before Caroline or Lucy could response so the two turned to each other with a mutual sigh.

"May as well." Lucy said with a demure shrug, "I always have a bag packed anyways."

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><p>Bonnie was seeing stars wherever she was. Her senses returned to her in increments and her mouth and eyes were wide as she took in the sunlit sky above her. Seconds later she was coughing violently as the dust she'd lifted from her awkward landing found its way into her mouth.<p>

"Damon." She muttered, wincing as she turned to her side and steadied her breathing. Pressing her eyes shut and readying herself, she got up and onto her knees, pushing herself up with her hands until she was fully upright. "_Shit_." She hissed when she finally made sense of the fact that she was in the middle of the forest, with no inclination as to where or _when_ it was. She took a tentative step and then bit down hard on her bottom lip as pain shot up her left side that she'd landed on. Shrugging it over she powered through, wincing and wheezing as she hobbled forward, hoping it would lead somewhere. After about ten minutes she became aware of two things, _one_ she was hearing things that no human ears had any business hearing; the rush of water from miles away, scuttling creatures and insects in the trees above her. _Two_, her leg didn't hurt anymore and her vision was clearing, in fact, she was picking up the pace. For reasons entirely unclear to her Bonnie drew in a shuddering breath and locked in on one scent – the smell of bourbon. She figured, wherever it took her had to be better than the meandering around a desolate forest for the rest of the day. So she began to run and didn't stop until she found herself beside a tarred road, she sped over it hurriedly and kept her senses trained on the smell of bourbon as well as the direction she remembered the Damon's home to be in and she didn't stop running until she stopped outside of the Boarding House. She didn't even realise that the speed she was moving at was entirely unhuman. She ran inside and then froze. She could hear odd noises coming from upstairs. Taking a precautionary sniff of the place she didn't come across a single trace of Damon. She turned and walked out the front door, blinking in the bright sun. She spotted Matt's truck and shrugged to herself. Opening the door because the boy never locked it she scrounged under the mat near the foot pedals of his car and found the spare keys. Grinning at the fact that he never changed his habits she started the engine and sped off, only Damon on her mind.

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><p>Damon had insisted on driving Lucy's car with Enzo while the rest of them followed in Caroline's but the minute they hit the first highway he was gone. He'd said that they needed to keep an eye on Liv and Enzo would do the same for him so in theory everyone was okay with it. Caroline laughed softly at their stupidity.<p>

"I should have known he'd drive like a bat out of hell." The blonde groaned as she increased the speed but didn't bother trying to catch up with the erratic vampire. Lucy nodded as she rested an arm against the lip of the car's window, her head against her hand.

"I assumed he would so I put a sort of tracking spell on him, I know exactly where he's going." Caroline peeked over at the Bennett witch and grinned at her forward thinking, her expression only changing for a split second when Liv's slumberous form in the back seat caught her eye. Shaking off her thoughts she hauled ass home, and hopefully to her best friend.

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><p>Bonnie had no clue how long she'd driven when she came across the first gas station. Half falling out of the car she yelled out for a phone as was shown to where a coin operated machine stood. It was dusty and old but exactly what she needed. The man who'd directed her had stuttered his words a little once their eyes met but her impatience had brought the answer from his lips fast enough. She closed her eyes and chanted as her hands fell onto the receiver of the telephone booth. She raised it to her ear to hear it ringing and almost screamed out in relief when she heard Caroline's voice come onto the line.<p>

"Care! It's me, where's Damon?" She heard tyres swerving and angry curse words leave someone in the background's mouth before Caroline answered.

"Bonnie?!"

"Yes, _where is Damon_?" Bonnie pressed, she had to find him, she didn't know how much longer she could go before seeing him. Her body was strong but her mind _needed_ him nearby, before it finally collapsed in on itself.

"He's on his way to you, on the road right now." Bonnie could hear the disbelief in Caroline's voice and she loved her for it but she didn't have the time right now.

"I love you!" Bonnie yelled and slammed the receiver down, ran back to Matt's pick up and sped in the direction of New Orleans. She knew there were about a thousand miles between her and where she needed to be but that didn't slow her down, not in the slightest. Bonnie let off pulses of magic that 'jumped' her and the car forward ten miles at a time, bringing her closer and closer every time she let off the spell. She'd chant the spell a hundred times if she had to, even if it sent her into a coma, she needed to get to Damon and realign the axis of her world.

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><p>Damon could <em>feel<em> her. He could feel the pull towards her and the way he was driving at present had Enzo fearing for his life. That and the fact that the car kept being spontaneously propelled forward at ludicrous speeds was certainly not helping him. But Damon didn't care. He felt like he and Bonnie were being pulled together instead of apart like last time and he was all for it. For some reason he knew she was getting closer, and he could feel the distance between them falling away with each minute passing.

"I know that we're technically immortal," Enzo began, drawing in a breath as Damon speedily overtook another car and pressed his foot flat on the gas, "But I'd prefer not smashing my face into this windscreen if you'd be so kind." Damon turned to face Enzo then, easily manoeuvring the car without his full focus and grinned wolfishly.

"If you'd shut up and let me _focus_ I'm sure we could bend the odds in our favour." Enzo would be lying if he said that he didn't feel his undead heart fall into his stomach. _This_ Damon that had a single-mindedness about Bonnie was unlike anything he'd ever encountered before with his friend. Damon had the kind of tunnel vision that didn't leave bodies in its wake, or anything particularly dramatic _or_ traumatic for that matter – and that's what scared Enzo. The only one suffering at this point was Damon himself. Enzo nodded and settled further into seat as the blue eyed Salvatore went back to staring at the road. For all his snarling not once had Damon actually hurt someone in his quest to be reunited with Bonnie. Enzo had met the girl a few times, irritated the hell out of her as he was want to do with just about everyone but he couldn't correlate _that_ Bonnie having an effect this gargantuan on Damon Salvatore – Damon _fucking_ Salvatore. Enzo also noticed that each time they 'jumped' forward by however many miles at that impossible break-neck speed, Damon's smile widened. The 'jump' only lasted a few seconds but it was already getting to Enzo's stomach, he felt it tighten as they jumped again. Damon started laughing and if Enzo believed in a god that would have forgiven him for everything he'd done he would have started praying to them.

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><p>Bonnie felt when she came within 50 miles of him and she increased the speed on Matt's pick-up that had gained so much momentum that she was only really using the steering wheel and occasionally the brake pedal. Her magic was enough to keep the car going at unholy speeds. She jumped again, and <em>again<em> and she caught a swift glimpse in her mind's eye of him driving with Enzo beside him. It brought a smile to her face as she overtook the umpteenth car. When she saw the car in the distance that she knew he was in she jumped again, only a little this time, to bring them together – and then with perfect precision both of their cars swerved around one another and skidded to the edges of the high way to get out of the way. Time seemed to slow in the moment when the two cars spun around one another, both drivers in perfect synchronicity as they pulled off and jerked the cars into park. Bonnie was barely out of her seatbelt when the door to car was half ripped off of its hinges and she was pulled out of it and into his arms. She pulled up and further into his grip as she wrapped her arms around his neck as his clung to her waist, lifting her up, off of the floor and securely into his hold. She couldn't believe it, _he_ couldn't believe it, and all Enzo could do was clamour out of the car and slide down the side of it and catch his breath as he watched Damon and Bonnie embrace one another.

Only in this moment could either of them breathe properly, only in _this_ moment did they feel like they had finally returned home.

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><p>"<strong>If there's a future, we want it - now." I mean, this song was MADE for Bamon. I hope the 'jumping' made sense, making Enzo queasy was <strong>_**too**_** much fun!**

**The chant basically means**_**: "Bring these four elements together. Make them one. Fire, Earth, Wind, Water. Make them one. And I call on another, the fifth and the final. Make it mine and make it all one." **_**At least that's what I put into Google Translate :D**

**UT OMNES UNUM SINT (Make them one) – and by '**_**them'**_**, I mean Bamon.**

**Stay excellent.**


	11. Chapter 11

"**Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift is the soundtrack for this.**

**You'll see why X**

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><p>It had been ten minutes and they'd yet to let one another go. Damon was content just standing there feeling the echo of Bonnie's heartbeat run through his dormant bones. Bonnie was simply relishing in the fact that Damon had <em>cared<em> and that he had been waiting for her to come and that he'd needed to get to her as desperately as she'd needed to get to him. That much was obvious. Enzo huffed, rolled his neck, clicking everything back in place as he stood to his feet and approached them. As he opened his mouth to comment on their reunion being considerably _more_ than platonic Damon pulled away just enough to look at her and he burst into a wide grin. Enzo froze in place.

"I'm exhausted." Bonnie said in a small voice and Damon nodded.

"Me too, I don't know when the last time was that I actually slept through the night," they both laughed softly at what was clearly a shared sentiment or inside joke, "I feel awful. Let's go to bed?" Damon's brows lifted and he pleaded with his face but Bonnie was already nodding as she swayed in his hold, her feet yet to touch the ground.

"Yes, let's." She said and buried her face in the crook of his neck, like she could fall asleep then and there. Enzo moved to speak again, even raised his hand a little this time to interject politely but the duo promptly vanished into thin air.

"I suppose I'll drive both cars back then?" Enzo quipped to the space they'd just been before heading back to Lucy's car, digging around for either his phone or Damon's to call Caroline and make sense of what the hell had just happened.

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><p>Bonnie and Damon reappeared at Stefan's house and she frowned as Damon set her on her feet in front of the door.<p>

"Where are we?" She asked, craning her neck to look the building up and down. She'd spelled them to what she assumed would be the closest thing to home, her magic must have latched onto Damon and taken them somewhere he knew they'd be safe.

"Stefan's new house. We can't get into Mystic Falls remember? Well, me." Bonnie nodded as she hugged her frame. She looked over at Damon who it seemed was debating on digging around for wherever the spare key was or just ripping the door open. Bonnie rolled her eyes and held her palm out, opening the door in seconds. Damon twisted his torso to grin at her and then he grabbed onto his wrist as he led her inside. Bonnie looked around. It was so …_empty_.

"Where is he?" She asked, allowing herself to be led straight to the guest bedroom that Damon had spent the last while screaming and writhing in guilt from her memory.

"I'm assuming Stefan's gone _somewhere_ to irritate _someone_ and we left everyone else in the middle of nowhere or in Mystic Falls." Bonnie yawned as she nodded and followed him as he flopped with the least of amount of grace she'd ever seen him employ with a low moan of satisfaction as he landed on the mattress. She smiled as she curled up into a small ball. Like before, he frowned at her and pulled her closer until she was nestled warmly to his side. "I hope this isn't weird for you." Damon said with a face stretching yawn following his words.

"I hope it isn't weird for you when I say that this is all I want right now." Bonnie admitted, resting her cheek against his chest and wrapping her fingers into the pooling material of his shirt as it rose a little from his stomach. Damon hummed in the back of his throat and as Bonnie closed her eyes she tried to edge closer to the sensation of the vibrations that ran through him.

"Since I came back without you this is all I've wanted, believe me. I've been driving everyone insane missing you." Damon said softly, inching closer and closer to sleep.

_Just close your eyes, _

_The sun is going down. _

_You'll be alright, _

_No one can hurt you now._

_Come morning light, _

_You and I'll be safe and sound_

"You were the only thing that kept me sane while I figured out a way to get home." Bonnie didn't know it, but a smile moved Damon's mouth then, glad he was able to have helped her even a little…even if it was through their mutual insanity. As she readied herself to succumb to sleep she felt Damon's cool hand cover hers where she gripped his shirt and his other hand wound around her waist with a firmness that made her feel instantly safe and protected. For Damon, Bonnie's heartbeat and her breathing were slowly winding the shattered parts of his soul back together. He could feel sleep coming to find him, and for the first time since Bonnie saved his miserable ass, he was actually looking forward to it.

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><p>That night when Lucy, Caroline, Enzo and a still comatose Liv arrived at Stefan's Caroline flashed to the location where she heard a steady heartbeat coming from. She shoved Stefan's guest bedroom open, not caring when it slammed against the wall loudly in response as she took in the sight before her. Her mouth was still hanging open when Lucy and Enzo, who still had Liv slung over his shoulder, came to stand with her by the threshold. Damon and Bonnie were in bed asleep. Both their heads and bodies were turned to face one another. Bonnie's one leg was flung over Damon's jutting hip bone as he lay on his side, his legs curled at the space underneath her, her other leg caught in between. His one hand held one of hers while the other had become a makeshift pillow, propping his head up as Bonnie snuggled into his chest. There were a tangle of bodies and the three watching supernaturals felt suddenly awkward, as though they were intruding on a very personal moment between Bonnie and Damon. Caroline felt too many things all at once. First and foremost, that her best friend was <em>alive<em> and _breathing_ and …_sleeping_…but **alive** and she was **back**. For that, tears began to fall, even as confusion settled into her chest as Caroline took in the intimacy with which the two of them were sleeping next to each other.

"Come on," Lucy said, "I remember you saying something about a magical dome over all of Mystic Falls that needs to be taken down?" Caroline nodded but didn't take her eyes off of Bonnie. "Caroline, she's back, she's obviously exhausted…I mean we know Damon has been _beside_ himself with insomnia, so how about we let them rest while we figure out what the next plan is." Caroline sighed as she watched Bonnie's chest rise and fall.

"She's gonna be here if I come back in five minutes right?" Caroline asked, her blue eyes wide as she finally looked at Lucy. Lucy's face softened as she took in the sight of Caroline showing her vulnerability. Lucy rested her hands on the vampire's shoulders.

"Somehow, Bonnie made it back to us and from what I've seen over the last while she's safest next to Damon, trust me. She'll be here. She's _home_." Caroline looked over at Enzo who simply nodded before adjusted the weight of Liv on his shoulder. Caroline laughed, a watery sound and Lucy pulled her in for a quick hug and a pat on the cheek before walking away. Caroline and Enzo locked eyes.

"She's back?" Caroline said, disbelief still in her tone. Enzo smiled then, a real smile, small but warm and stepped into her space.

"She's back." He said and gave Damon and Bonnie one last glance before following in Lucy's footsteps to get back to the living room.

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><p>Bonnie found herself in a dream soon after she'd fallen asleep. The sun was out and she was in a bright yellow sundress as she sat out back in the garden at her father's house. She hadn't allowed herself to imagine home for so long that finally dreaming about it felt alien. As she made to throw herself back onto the bright checked picnic blanket she heard feet padding towards her. Raising her head as she lay on her back she locked eyes with Damon.<p>

"Didn't I just fall asleep next to you?" she asked and he chuckled as he settled down next to her and looked down at her as he held his head up, resting the weight of it on his elbow.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Damon admitted with a playful frown on his face.

"So I _am_ back then?" Bonnie asked as she nestled more comfortably in the blanket and stared up at the moving fluffy clouds. Damon mimicked her position and hummed in acknowledgment.

"You _are_ and I think we're currently passed out on my baby brother's spare bed."

"Interesting choice to have what is possibly our most intimate moment ever." Bonnie mused as she lifted a hand to trail an imaginary pattern in the sky.

"Indeed," he agreed, moving to hold her hand that was resting between them with his own; intertwining their fingers. She didn't even react to it. "You have no idea how close I was to losing it, Bon." Damon said after a few moments of peace. She turned to him then.

"I didn't want you to suffer because of what I did –"

"I know that," he said cutting her off while their heterochromic eyes locked together, "You'd never hurt me, I mean…not unless I asked for it." They shared a brief smile at that, "But Bonnie, you sending me back wasn't right…I am thankful, _yes_, **incredibly** so, but I am also so _**mad**_ at you…you should have saved yourself, you were the only one worth saving." He wanted her to know how much he meant those words… how grateful he was for her, for finding him worthy enough to be saved instead of herself. Bonnie, for her part was taken aback, she knew that when she'd hallucinated Damon that he'd told her they loved one another, but here, where their minds were linked in a much needed slumber – she'd been shown how true it was. Her eyes widened a little and her lips parted in soft shock.

"You're worth saving Damon, you're worth the sacrifice, you have to know that." Damon's breathing hitched at her words but he shook his head all the same.

"_You're_ worth saving, _you're_ worth the sacrifice…When I first got back," he said, taking in a deep breath and breaking their eye contact as he looked up at the sky, "I couldn't make sense of anything, I couldn't understand why you weren't next to me when you were all I dreamt about, all I saw wherever I went when my eyes were open…you haunted me Bonnie and rightfully so…you reminded me of my worth when we were together and then when I was back on earth I welcomed the hallucinations because they reminded me of _your_ worth and what you should have always meant to me…" he looked over to Bonnie to see tears falling quietly down the sides of her face as she listened to him.

"I…" he shushed her then and switched the hand that was holding hers allowing him to pull her arm around his neck so that he could snuggle up to her for a change and he felt laughter move her small frame as he wriggled into a comfortable position.

"Let's just stay here for however long we need. The world can wait…I have you back." Damon said his low and peaceful and Bonnie's heart galumphed at that, making him smile. Neither of them was thinking further than each other right now, and blissfully so.

* * *

><p>"Stefan…"Caroline started when the voicemail tone sounded, "I just wanted to let you know that Bonnie's back…her and Damon are asleep or whatever, they're both exhausted…Look, I don't really know how to explain anything that's going on right now but those hallucinations Damon was having, well I think there's a lot more to them than a guilty conscience. So…when you get the chance, call me." She ended the call and sighed as shook out her thoughts, her golden curls bouncing lightly in protest. Enzo handed her a mug of blood wordlessly as he passed her and handed a plate of food to a surprised Lucy as she sat in front of a pile of notes.<p>

"…Thank you." Lucy said as he handed her a fork as well. Enzo shrugged and walked away from the table and Lucy looked at Caroline.

"You think he'd be a little more chipper now that everything's starting to fall back into what it was." Lucy said after the front door had clicked shut upon Enzo's exit.

"That's the thing," Caroline said, only realising the truth of her words as she spoke them, "I don't think that's what he wants out of this…_any_ of us for that matter."

* * *

><p><strong>Did you like? Yes? No? Maybe? <strong>_**Sorta**_**?**

**OH. Someone asked about Bonnie's spells, she 'casts' in Latin :)**

_**Also**_**: Wonderful people I hate to say this but I won't in any way be following what happens in the season anymore, I haven't really since the first chapter save for a few plot points (Elena erasing her memory, Saremy, etc… Lol, **_**Saremy**_**…) which means no Kai. If you were looking for him to be a prevalent part in this then …then I feel like a total **_**asshole**_** because I don't think that's happening :/ Sorry…**

**ALSO: Thank you so much for your responses to this, they make me smile and laugh and roll around happily and all that great stuff. I'm sorry this note was so long. I'm gonna go and fix-up the next chapter. You guys ready?**

**Stay excellent.**


	12. Chapter 12

**The song is "**_**What The Water Gave Me**_**" by Florence & The Machine**

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><p>When Damon came to he was spooning Bonnie, his arms wrapped around her and locked in place. But her steady heart and rhythmic breathing showed that she was perfectly content as she slept. He almost pinched himself; he was <em>so<em> sure he was dreaming. But she was so _warm_; she'd even managed to warm his tired bones. She didn't make him cold anymore, because he wasn't interacting with the _memory_ of her but with her actual person. Which reminded him…

"_What the hell_?" She hissed as he shook her awake. She turned to face him with a groggy scowl on her face and he'd have ooh'd and aah'd at the adorableness of it all if it wasn't for the one pressing question that fell out of his mouth the minute she opened her eyes.

"How did you get back?" He demanded, not angrily, but more out of a niggling curiosity to discover how she managed to get herself out of purgatory without the ascension device and without Kai straggling somewhere behind. She looked at him then, her back still pressed against his chest and her neck turned when her heartbeat stuttered before speeding off into an unprecedented pace as she tried to wriggle out of his hold. Both sets of their eyes were still half blue and half green and it sure made a jarring addition to their aesthetic – both of them were already beautiful, but with their eyes these two colours…they looked otherworldly. "Don't move, just tell me. How did you do it?" She sighed and turned around in the circle of his arms so that she was facing him. Something told her they were being listened to by whoever else was in the house. She could practically _smell_ traces of Caroline's strawberry shampoo in the air, or maybe she was just being paranoid. "Bon…" Damon prompted her and she blinked rapidly, trying to remember what he asked.

"The fifth element." Bonnie managed to get out, despite her senses suddenly rising up and over her. Damon was _too_ close, every detail of his face _too_ acutely recounted by her eyes; the smells crawling in through the door from the kitchen were _too_ sweet and _too_ mouth-watering. "Something weird happened when I sent you home."

"No kidding." Damon answered, watching with a furrowed brow as a list of emotions flitted over Bonnie's face as she lay in his hold.

"No…" Bonnie shook her head as she tried to look at him to convey what she meant and not just, you know, _look_ at him. "I _mean_… I mean _my_ Damon…I mean," She wanted to smack herself on the forehead, "The _you_ that I _hallucinated_ –"

"Your Damon, yes go on," Damon said, as casual about it as he was serious, because he knew exactly what she meant. He'd had a Bonnie of his own despite the torture it had brought him.

"–He said something to me, he said," she frowned as she thought back to 'Damon' pointing around himself and then at her heart, "He said a part of you stayed behind with me because you were in my …you were in my heart." Bonnie swallowed uncomfortably. Damon pursed his lips, it didn't sound like something he'd get caught dead saying…Ironically. But he couldn't dispute the logic behind it. Slowly he began to nod.

"So what does that have to do with this _fifth element_?" He wondered and she pulled an extremely awkward face. "…What."

"The fifth element is _love_." Bonnie said, looking like she wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

"So you're _saying_…" Damon began, making sure to keep his tone light, "That because we love each other," he raised his brows at her as he looked down at her making sure she was paying attention to the fact that he wasn't denying it, "And you sent me home instead of yourself, something interdimensionally magical happened and then I started hallucinating you?" Bonnie frowned then.

"Damon if I knew sending you back alone would have turned you into a crazy person, I never would have done that to you, I wouldn't have –" he pressed her mouth shut between his index and forefinger and mulled it all over.

"That's not what I meant," Damon pointed out, releasing her when her cheeks started heating up from her glare, "I don't think the hallucinations were all though."

"They aren't." Bonnie said with a fierce nod. "After we had that dream …in the woods, the first one?" He nodded, "I woke up on the _Whatever Side_ with this gash on my forehead where I fell after passing out on the stair case," Damon frowned as he looked at her forehead, it was flawless, had she spelled it? "It healed all by itself Damon." Bonnie said, her heterochromic eyes boring into his.

"Lucy tried to protect herself with a spell when I was deciding whether or not to feed on her," Bonnie's eyes went wide until they narrowed suspiciously.

"Lucy's here? Why did you try and drink from her? Why didn't her magic work on you?" Damon shrugged, adjusting his hold on Bonnie's waist.

"Probably the same reason you can heal quickly and why your senses are all over the place…"

"How did you? –"

"When you first looked at me your pupils fluctuated repeatedly and you looked at me like someone who was seeing the world for the first time …through a vampire's eyes." Bonnie's mouth fell open. Before she could respond the door burst wide open, sending her already frantic heart into a tailspin. She clutched her chest as Caroline beamed at her, trying to steady her senses.

"Okay I'm done pretending I'm not listening!" Caroline burst out as she flashed to Bonnie's side of the bed. Bonnie's eyes went from Damon to Caroline and back a few times before she practically climbed onto the blonde's lap. Damon moved to sit up and rest his back against the headboard. Both girls squealed and Damon watched as a small part of the world he'd come to know fell back into its rightful place as Bonnie laughed as she wiped away Caroline's tears…Damon just didn't know how much of the world they'd come to know and fight for was still salvageable…And he also didn't know why but that suddenly didn't faze him as much as he thought it would. Their _old_ sense of normal; with Bonnie dying periodically, this '_life'_ with him, Stefan and Elena; even Caroline…They could all use a change. Damon smiled as Bonnie turned to grin at him. As much as he hated that Elena got her memory's erased he …in that moment, envied her because it would be so much easier to ease into this transition that was lifting up and over all of their heads. But he'd do it the right way, he'd change along with whatever came their way now and it would make him a better man for it.

* * *

><p>"Caroline, my uh- my friend from home," Stefan stammered, "She called and said that Bonnie somehow managed to get back." Amelia sat back in the dining room chair, with Fahada and Imran on either side of her. Elena was next to Stefan on the other side of the rectangular wooden dinner table. The table itself could seat about twenty people.<p>

"You must bring them both here if the trouble persists." Imran advised while Stefan nodded.

"I think it does."

"Then that settles it, we have plenty of room, tell them to come."

* * *

><p>"Uh, <strong>no<strong>!" Caroline harped and Bonnie winced and then pretended to clear her ear out as Damon scowled at the blonde, "You're not going anywhere, or _doing_ anything, you _just_ got here!"

"There's too much to do," Bonnie argued lightly, "We have to lift this spell on Mystic Falls, figure out why Damon and I look like this, get Elena's memories back, the list goes on…" Caroline growled prettily.

"Bonnie, **stop**!" The vampire girl exclaimed, "You haven't been back a day and already you're throwing yourself headfirst into this magical crap…Cut yourself some slack."

"And who's going to fix it if I don't?" Bonnie quipped a little heatedly and Damon was about to intervene when Lucy spoke up.

"I will." The older Bennett witch said smoothly with a small smile as she and Bonnie locked eyes. "Bennett's need to stick together, right?" Bonnie's eyes welled up a little.

"I can't expect you t–"

"Oh shush, you deserve to be cut some slack; these supernaturals have a total boner for dying so you need all the help you can get." Lucy walked up to Bonnie and pulled her into a hug as Caroline's phone rang. Bonnie couldn't help but laugh as she hugged Lucy back. "We need to work together kiddo; I hear it's been rough on you."

"You could say that." Bonnie said with a watery smile.

"Come on, I've already started with the unbinding spell for Mystic Falls, once we figure that out we can start on whatever is happening between you and Damon." Bonnie's eyes bulged but Lucy rolled her dark brown ones in response, "I meant magically Bon, _magically_."

"Okay so apparently Stefan knows of someone who can help you and Damon figure out this whole thing between the two of you…" Caroline said with a clap of her hands once she ended the call, "Some dude called Imran or whatever. Sooo…How about we all band together and get this wall down so Mystic Falls can go back to what it was and then we fix the two of you up? Huh?" Caroline looked so determined then, so happy, so much like her old self that Bonnie didn't have it in her to say that maybe her and Damon being this way wasn't a bad thing – so what was there to change? But instead, she smiled and nodded as Lucy tugged her away by her elbow, her eyes locking with Damon's over her shoulder.

'_Cause they took your loved ones_

_But returned them in exchange for you_

_But would you have it any other way?_

_Would you have it any other way?_

_You couldn't have it any other way_

Lucy didn't want to believe it but Bonnie had figured it out after about half an hour of looking through her notes. Bonnie had nodded her head, looked at Damon and then everyone else and asked them what they were all waiting for. So there they stood Caroline, then Lucy, Bonnie, Damon at the border outside of Mystic Falls. Enzo had been left behind to make sure Liv came to okay once her powers returned to her. Lucy had spelled him to be temporarily protected from other witches…so _technically_, he'd be fine. Bonnie took a step forward and out of habitual instinct, Damon's arm shot out to hold her back.

"Do you have to get that close?" He wondered aloud, clearly unhappy, "I don't want to have to flay myself alive trying to get you back on this side of the border." Bonnie turned to him then, her face showing subtle nuances of amusement as she stepped out of his hold, now two feet away from the border.

"I'll be fine, Damon." Bonnie said, turning to look to Lucy and jerk her head for the other Bennett witch to follow. Caroline and Damon exchanged wary glances; Bonnie shouldn't be doing magic this soon to returning home…_anything_ could go wrong. "Lucy, you're in charge of maintaining the four elements, and I'll hone in the fifth and chant the overall spell. That okay?"

"Sure," Lucy agreed, but her eyes widened in silent pleading with Bonnie, the spell was too big for someone as depleted as she was – Lucy just hoped she had the strength needed if something happened to Bonnie to make sure Bonnie survived it. "Whatever you need." Bonnie nodded and turned to face her home. She shook out her hands and raised them in tandem with Lucy. Lucy began the elemental chanting and Bonnie took that as her cue to hone in the fifth element. She could feel Damon's apprehension as if it were her own, like she had an intrinsic understanding of everything he did now…All because she'd spent the last few weeks without him, hallucinating him anyway while he was in the same boat, if not worse seas, as she was. Clearing her mind she allowed the words to come to. Damon and Caroline watched as four spheres appeared before Lucy; one a swirling ball of water, another of dirt lifted from the floor, one of fire and another that just appeared to be a small vortex of spinning air.

_Lay me down_

_Let the only sound_

_Be the overflow_

_Pockets full of stones_

"Et incarnatus est de voluntate et quinta mundi spiritus invoco odio purgare hic moretur, et me inter violentos moenia domi. Qui sunt domo mea. Ego dilexi." Bonnie chanted, feeling the air around them thicken and begin to hum with magic. Lucy had gotten the elements in perfect synchronicity. "Et incarnatus est de voluntate et quinta mundi spiritus invoco odio purgare hic moretur, et me inter violentos moenia domi. Qui sunt domo mea. Ego dilexi." Bonnie knew it would take everything she was willing to give to remove the dome – so that's exactly what she gave. Heat rose from the tarred road that they were standing on and Caroline's wide eyes turned to Damon, but his were locked on Bonnie. The green eyed witch was looking to the sky as she chanted, watching in utter fascination as embers began to flicker up in the distance, burning off layer after layer of magical wards as they chanted. A sudden burst of fire engulfed the sky as the duo freed Mystic Falls of its spelled wards. Both witches screamed suddenly, their backs arching as the spell took effect. In a flash Caroline and Damon were holding Lucy and Bonnie respectively while fluttering's of ash and smoke swirled down from the sky to fall down around them.

_Oh my love don't forget me_

_When I let the water take me_

"_**Dammit**_ Bonnie!" Damon shouted as he eased himself onto the floor to cradle her body and bring her back to consciousness. Her heartbeat fluttered and then progressively began to slow.

_Lay me down_

_Let the only sound_

_Be the overflow_

_Pockets full of stones_

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><p>"<strong>By the power of the fifth I call upon the spirits and the will of the world to clear the hatred that lingers here, the violent walls between me and my home. The home of those who belong to me. The ones I love." – That's what I made the chant be. <strong>

**PS: I noticed some pretty interesting thoughts/comments in my reviews that got **_**me**_** thinking, so ... If you guys wanna chat to me about the story or even just trade meme-reactions and be silly, hit me up on Twitter: Archers_Lanaaaa (that's four a's because if you've seen the show Archer is **_**always**_** yelling for/at her and it's hilarious)**

**Stay excellent.**


	13. Chapter 13

**EEP!**

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><p>Bonnie could hear Damon calling to her, moving her body, pressing his ear right against her chest to hear her faint thrumming heartbeat. But she couldn't respond yet, she was floating in her head, it was empty without him there, and she wanted to open her eyes and see him but she was being assaulted by a flurry of stars and bursts of colour. She could feel her thoughts rolling around and slamming against the walls of her skull and she felt as her mouth curled upward into an attempt at a smile. She felt <em>incredible<em>.

"Bonnie!" He barked again, his hands tight around her small shoulders, wanting to shake her no doubt. Slowly her eyes opened, and her eyelids fluttered as she adjusted to the brightness that was falling behind Damon's worried face. Her vision blurred and she giggled, drawing in breaths of him and the smell of fire that was still hanging in the air. Damon watched as her multi-coloured eyes dilated and she lifted a hand to trail a finger down his cheek. There was a sudden kick in her chest as her heart rate returned to normality.

"You look like an _angel_ Damon." She said in a small voice, almost giddy-sounding. Her head still lolled a little this way and that as he lifted her up and she gripped onto his arms with an impressive hold, seeing as she could barely keep her eyes open. She took in another deep breath and looked around her. Lucy and Caroline were sitting a few feet away on the open tarred road. Bonnie waved lazily at Lucy with a silly smile still stretching her face. Damon frowned as he tilted her head so that he could do a full inventory of her features. He was getting really tired of having to cradle her like this, of wondering if she was okay, of her pushing herself this _far_ and this _hard_ with her magic. Mostly because it felt like he was hallucinating again, dreaming of her dying, standing there, helpless as she put the world before her own needs.

You'd think she'd have fucking _learned_ something by now.

"You look high." He commented as she leaned into his hand.

"I _feel_ high." She agreed, her head falling back as she started laughing softly, "I could have died you know." She said the amusement in her voice giving her words an odd effect. Damon pulled her back towards him and he moved her hair out of her face. He didn't need her reminding him of something he'd been feeling in his gut.

"Look at me." He ordered her and her eyes went wide as they locked with his. She lifted a hand and covered his as it held her chin in place. Her small fingers were wrapped around his wrist while the other hung listlessly at her side while his free hand held her in place at her waist. "Your eyes don't look right." He said, concern putting an edge in his voice. She snorted.

"Neither do yours but _I'm_ not being rude about it." She commented with a small frown creating a divot between her brows. Damon wanted to say something snarky in return but he pushed down the urge. She was alive and that was all that mattered. "Stop doing this to me." He said his voice gruff and her heartbeat stuttered as she looked at him, for what seemed like the first time in that moment. She pulled herself up and Damon eased her onto the gravel beside himself as they sat making sure she wouldn't fall over.

"It had to be done." Bonnie said, her voice returning to its usual seriousness.

"I don't _give_ a shit." Damon spat, "We could have all moved somewhere else. It probably would have been for the best."

"This is our _home_ Damon," Bonnie pointed out, "I've heard you say it myself, you always come back here."

"That was because I knew Stefan would be here. My home is where he is." Bonnie's chest tightened at his naked honesty and she reached out to him, pulling him in for a hug. First he hugged her back because he felt like that's what she'd want and then he relaxed into her hold because he realised it was what _he_ wanted.

"Whenever you two are ready, we should probably head into town and figure out our next move." Lucy called and the duo slowly pulled apart, Damon flashing to his feet to help Bonnie up.

"My place it is." Damon said squinting as he stepped over the border and turning to grin at Bonnie when nothing happened to him. "Come on, let's go home."

* * *

><p>Jeremy had Sarah pushed up against one of the walls in the den, his mouth on her neck as her legs were locked around his waist. Her fingers tunnelled through his hair as she sucked in quick breaths with he moved against her. He tore at her shirt, ripping it down the middle to reveal her black lace bra. He looked up at her face and they shared a breathless grin. She wriggled out of the torn item and Jeremy moaned a little at the feel of her skin against his. Their mouths returned to each other and Jeremy felt like he could spend his days doing exactly what he was doing now – because he didn't know who he was outside of moments like these and he didn't have it in him to wonder why anymore.<p>

"Well this is nice." Jeremy tore his mouth off of Sarah at the sound of Damon's voice. He turned with Sarah still firmly in his hold, ready to say something biting when he noticed who was standing next to Damon. She was nothing like Jeremy had remembered – she was a thousand times better.

"_Bonnie_." Jeremy gasped, half dropping Sarah on the floor in his shock. The girl stumbled a little but righted herself, hiding herself behind her crossed arms as she peeked around Jeremy's shoulder at the _other_ girl everyone had been trying to find. Bonnie's face was eerily indifferent to what she was seeing, but she knew what she'd been walking into. She'd heard their laboured breathing from outside already, for whatever reason.

"Jeremy." Bonnie said evenly before looking to Sarah. "And _you_ are?"

"Sarah." The girl stammered and Bonnie nodded. Damon looked down at Bonnie, worried at how she'd react to seeing her boyfriend this way and to distract himself from flitting over to Jeremy and snapping his neck for old time's sake. Bonnie drew in a breath and turned to look up to Damon.

"Pack your bags, Caroline and I are going to do the same at my house, I'll be back in an hour." Jeremy opened his mouth when Bonnie locked her eyes on him again. "We're done." She said easily and walked out of the room, a confused Caroline hurrying after her. Jeremy moved to follow her but Damon flashed in front of him.

"You heard what she said." Damon growled out. Jeremy stumbled back at the unfiltered anger rolling off of the vampire in front of him and then Jeremy raised a wary hand.

"What the hell happened to your eyes, to _Bonnie's_ eyes…Why are they like that?" Jeremy managed to get out. Damon smiled then, a sinister one, like he always used to. He stepped into Jeremy's space then.

"_That's_ none of your concern." Damon hissed, his eyes snapping to Sarah and he all but snarled as his gaze returned to Jeremy's face. "Now both of you pack your shit and get the _fuck_ out." Lucy put a hand on Damon's shoulder then, frowning at Jeremy when she saw fight sparking in his eyes.

"Don't be an _idiot_." Lucy said to the Gilbert boy. "I don't want to have to hurt you." Jeremy couldn't hide the shock on his face.

"Since when do witches take the sides of vampires like _him_?" Jeremy asked his voice accusatory and infuriated.

"Since he's the only one I see actively trying to maintain the balance in this god-forsaken town." Lucy said her voice thick with authority, "_That_ and I wouldn't want him to have to endure the guilt of killing you when he looks into Bonnie's eyes …but _me_? I don't care about that kind of thing so I'd watch myself if I were you. If I had to choose between him and you I wouldn't even hesitate to put you in an eternal sleep." Jeremy swallowed and nodded, turning to jerk his head at Sarah, for her to follow him as he went upstairs to pack up his things. Damon waited until he heard Jeremy close the door upstairs to whichever room he'd claimed before turning to Lucy with questions in his eyes.

"Why did you say all that?" He wondered. She shrugged.

"I can see what you mean to Bonnie and what she means to you, and from what I've seen when it comes to you and _guilt_ over her you wouldn't survive killing the boy she loved so _yes_ Damon, I would kill him if it came down to it because I can see what's better for Bonnie…I can see it in her eyes, in yours too – because they carry the same truths," Lucy stepped into his space then and put a hand over his heart and closed her eyes. Damon felt the hand of her magic dig into his chest, quickly and gently before her eyes flashed open again and she smiled, "Héo hæfþ þin heorte." Damon frowned. "_She holds your heart_." Lucy tapped his chest as she moved away from him, "And that's why I'd do whatever it took for you, because it's for _Bonnie_, one in the same really and I _**owe**_ her that." Damon was still at a loss for words. "Could you hurry up and pack your things so we can book these flights and get the _hell_ out of here?" He nodded and flashed upstairs leaving Lucy smiling as her eyes trailed over the carpeted floors of the den. "…And so the wolf fell in love with the sheep, only to discover she was a lioness in disguise." She whispered, giggling softly as she flounced onto the couch and waited.

* * *

><p>Bonnie was throwing things this way and that and Caroline, the vampire, was barely keeping up with her.<p>

"Bonnie…Are you –" Caroline's words were cut off when she dodged a flying peasant shirt, "Are you okay?" Bonnie dropped the clothes in her hands and locked eyes with Caroline.

"Are you asking me because of the spell I just cast or what happened with Jeremy?"

"_Both_." Caroline said, crossing her arms to show she meant business and wouldn't stop until she got some answers. Bonnie nodded and put a hand on her hip as she gestured to herself with her free hand.

"I spent over four months dead with Damon and then I had to send him back without me because of that backward _bastard_ Kai and _**then**_, when I started hallucinating Damon it was pretty much the only thing that kept me sane as we found a way to get me back. _**Then**_," Bonnie said now using both of her hands as she tried to make sense of what had happened since her return, "Then I get back and all I want to do is see Damon, be _near_ him, and adding on the fact that my eyes are all weird and that I can do all these spells without dying or even having so much as a _nosebleed_, yeah, I've never been better!" She drew in a sharp breath, "And then I see Jeremy today, with that girl Sarah and you know what…_Nothing happened_. It hurt sure, but there was no fight there, no want to fight and that doesn't mean I don't love him but it _does_ mean that the love I do have for him is dwindling as we speak…because that's what happens when you die as much as I have Caroline, you figure out what's worth fighting for and his love is no longer _good enough_ for me." Caroline's brows flew to her hairline and her mouth fell open.

"Bon, all he did was mourn you." Caroline felt the need to point out and Bonnie nodded in a way that both acknowledged and disregarded her point.

"Sure and I _died_ for him. Do you see me fucking someone against a wall?" Caroline's face crumbled.

"I'm sorry Bon, I –"

"I don't have time to be _sad_ Caroline; we need to figure this thing out with my face and hopefully everything else will come with that."

"You're right, where's your passport?" The blonde asked, checking things off in her mind.

"Downstairs in my dad's study." Caroline nodded and flashed away and Bonnie took that moment to stand still and let the tears she'd been keeping in come to the edges of her lashes before she blinked them away. Her dad wasn't coming back, her relationship with Jeremy had finally run its course and the only person who made her feel _safe_ and _normal_ was in love with her other best friend who she couldn't have felt more estranged from in that instant. She drew in a breath and continued packing hurriedly. She had to keep up her momentum before she stopped moving altogether.

* * *

><p>…<p>

**Stay excellent.**


	14. Chapter 14

"**Bamon, glorious Bamon, WHY try and DENY it" **

***sings along to the melody of food glorious food***

* * *

><p>Landing in Cape Town was surreal. Bonnie had only just returned to the land of the living and now she'd landed in one of the most energetic cities in the <em>world<em>. She could see the infamous mountain, smiling people everywhere – like the whole city was brimming with life. Following Stefan's direction the car stopped outside of a large white beach house that stood three floors high. Bonnie, Lucy and Caroline got out and quickly moved out of the way for the second car to pull up that had Damon and Enzo inside. Once their bags were taken out and the drivers were paid the five of them grouped together at the foot of the stairs, wondering what they were walking into. Damon looked down at Bonnie, trying to ascertain her current mood or an idea of what she was thinking about. The entire flight over they'd hardly spoken and she'd been on edge ever since she'd ended things with Jeremy – something Damon wouldn't have believed if he hadn't seen it himself. The wide double doors that were made of frosted glass with wooden framing, swung open and a man, nearing two metres tall came bounding down the stairs with a wide grin in place. He had light grey eyes and wonderful olive skin with a well-muscled frame and long wavy midnight coloured hair. He walked right up to Bonnie and bent his knees a little to look her in the eye as he winked.

"_You_ must be Bonnie Bennett." He said standing upright and holding out a hand to her which she timidly took. He shook it firmly, "I'm Imran, it's lovely to meet you. Welcome to Cape Town!" Bonnie smiled then, finding his enthusiasm endearing.

"Thank you, it's lovely to meet you as well." He nodded happily before redirecting his eyes to Damon who was still in the process of eyeing the host out.

"Damon Salvatore?" Imran said, also leaning in to look at Damon's eyes, "How curious." Damon nodded with a slight frown on his features. Imran turned to Lucy then and inclined his head respectfully before casting curious eyes at Enzo. "…You are?"

"Wait, wait, how do you know who _she_ is," Enzo wondered jerking a thumb at Lucy, "But you don't know who I am?"

"You're surprised Stefan didn't mention you? How strange, from what I heard you two don't even _try_ to get along." Imran said with a cheeky smile. Enzo shook his head and pressed his lips together. "You must be Caroline Forbes." Imran said, holding a hand out to the blonde vampire, "Hello." They shook hands.

"_Hi_." Caroline said cheerfully, "So, are they inside? How are we doing this?" Imran folded his hands behind his back and turned serious for a moment.

"To be entirely honest what _you_ do, within in reason during your stay here is your concern, outside of Damon and Bonnie there isn't much _to_ be done, but you're in a beautiful city, I'm sure you'll figure something out." Caroline nodded and smiled. "Come, come, I'm sure you'd like to see Stefan and Elena." He looked to Damon and Bonnie when he said that and both of them bristled a little at whatever gleam shone in his eyes for a split second before he turned and ascended the stairs to his home.

* * *

><p>"<em>Bonnie<em>!" Elena squealed, flashing until she had the startled witch in her hold. Bonnie's arms wound around her best friend's waist as Elena dropped her head to the crook of Bonnie's shoulder, "I missed you Bon." She whispered and Bonnie nodded, still unsure why she was so apprehensive to return the sentiment. Bonnie locked eyes with Stefan who looked especially grim as he took in her eye colours. Elena pulled away and gasped, finally get a proper look at Bonnie. "Bonnie your _eyes_."

"Yeah, hence the trip to Cape Town." Damon interrupted with a tight smile and Elena's eyes flitted to him and away again, something akin to guilt crossing her features. As he stepped to stand closer to Bonnie, Elena took a step back and folded her arms. Bonnie looked between the two of them and then at Stefan and then her cousin before her eyes landed on a woman who'd quietly entered the room. Both Bonnie and Lucy had felt Amelia's power when she stepped into the room, their bodies reacting to it almost immediately. Bonnie blinked and smiled tentatively as Amelia stepped towards.

"Bonnie?" Amelia asked and the girl nodded. Amelia's face broke into a gorgeous smile then. "I am Amelia, that must be your cousin Lucy," another nod, "Welcome to my home."

"Thank you." Bonnie said and Amelia patted her cheek.

"I need you and Damon to come with me," She said, her eyes sweeping the room, "Fahada will show the rest of you to your rooms and help you with whatever you need." Fahada sighed softly but everyone in the room save for Amelia and Lucy heard her. Though, Amelia, being accustomed to Fahada's ways, lifted a brow at the sullen girl who rolled her eyes in response.

"I'll be nice." Fahada said defensively, "Go make sense of whatever _that_ is." The vampire girl said, waving a hand at Bonnie and Damon who were looking at each other strangely. Amelia nodded, having noticed their exchange as well and motioned for them to follow her to her office where Imran was already waiting.

* * *

><p>Caroline had been roomed in between Elena and Stefan's rooms, with Lucy across from her in between where Damon and Enzo were to be sleeping. Bonnie had the room furthest down the hall, next to Damon and Caroline actively resisted the urge to comment.<p>

"Do you wish to go to the beach?" Fahada asked after she'd knocked on the door and peeked a head into the room. Caroline smiled and nodded.

"Sounds great!" The blonde vampire said, her thoughts twisting around her words causing them to come out a little strained, something Fahada picked up on instantly. Chewing on her bottom lip Fahada walked into the room and sat down next to Caroline on the King Sized bed.

"You are unhappy." Fahada said evenly, "Would you like to talk to someone about it?" Caroline looked at the girl then, really looked at her and wondered if she was as composed as she came across. Fahada tilted her head to the side. "I assure you I am not." Fahada said with a small smile, "You're wondering if I am as I seem are you not?" She asked when Caroline's brows furrowed. "People are easy to read when you've dedicated as much time to reading them as I have. Your thoughts may as well be scripted on your skin if someone paid enough attention, so, do you wish to confide in someone of what troubles you?"

"It would help if I could string a sentence together that came close to describing how I feel right now." Caroline said, looking up at the bright pale blue walls of the room before turning back to Fahada, "But nothing comes to mind."

"It will, when the time for words come," Fahada said with an assured nod as she stood to her feet, "Until then, how about I take you and your friends to the ocean and we can pretend for a few hours that that is what our normal lives are like." Caroline nodded, standing as well.

"That sounds perfect."

"I'll fetch the others." Fahada smiled and flashed out of the room.

* * *

><p>"So your eyes are usually green and his are usually blue?" Imran asked as he jotted things down on a pad of paper while Amelia scoured around in the archives of books in her office for any information that related to magical reactions in the human (and supernatural) body. Bonnie nodded while Damon slouched in the chair next to her looking annoyed for whatever reason.<p>

"Yes," Bonnie said, "I think it happened when we somehow managed to meet each other halfway –"

"Halfway between where?" Amelia piped up, twisting her frame to lock eyes with Bonnie from where she stood.

"From wherever I was and Earth." Bonnie said and Amelia let go of the book she'd been pulling out and walked over to stand beside her husband.

"_Impossible_." She breathed. "Even with this _fifth_ element."

"That's the thing I think my Grams used it to send me there in the first place," Bonnie went on, "And I used it to get myself back."

"And the condemned warlock?" Imran inquired.

"He had an 'ascension' device that I used to send Damon home." Bonnie said with an easy shrug. The couple nodded and Imran's eyes flitted to Damon and he sighed.

"Your brother said you were plagued with hallucinations when you returned –"

"When _Bonnie_ sent me back," Damon corrected and Bonnie swatted his forearm and he looked at her with a question in his eyes before he continued, "I hallucinated her while I was conscious, or _whatever_ the hell I was and I dreamt of her when I slept, recurring nightmares of her sacrificing herself for me and my minds manifestations of that and what Kai could have been doing to her without me there to keep her safe." Bonnie's eyes widened and her features settled into a soft sadness, her mouth turning down at the corners as she listened to him recount his days back on Earth, "I was miserable and barely lucid at any given moment and I'm sure Stefan took it upon himself to burden his forehead with yet another thing to brood over…he thought it was guilt or a _glitch_ in my brain as a result of inter-dimensional travelling but deep down I knew it was Bonnie…pieces of her came back with me, and I'd left pieces of myself with her…_magically_ speaking of course."

"Of course." Amelia and Imran agreed automatically. Bonnie pulled her focus from Damon's profile as she looked to Amelia.

"I hallucinated him as well but they weren't… _unpleasant_ or anything, though I suppose with time I would have lost my mind anyway stuck in that place." She could feel Damon's heated gaze on her face but she forged on, "We think that Lucy strengthened and stretched the bond between us when she tapped into his subconscious to try and find a way to get me home and that's how we were able to make contact prior to me casting the spell that brought me home." Amelia nodded thoughtfully.

"This is unlike anything we've encountered," the woman admitted, "I want you to know that." Bonnie swallowed, "But that doesn't mean we won't figure it out."

"I also think I've adopted some of Damon's vampirism." Bonnie muttered, her eyes downcast. The room fell silent then and her eyes snapped up to lock with Imran who was staring at Damon.

"Lucy tried to use a spell against me and it didn't work." Damon said after a few moments. Imran and Amelia exchanged glances then, worried and fascinated ones before he cleared his throat.

"I just have one more question," Imran said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his wife's desk to look between Bonnie and Damon who nodded for him to continue, "How do you two feel about one another?"

"_Feel_ about each other?" Bonnie squeaked, wanting to kick herself for the horror that leaked into her voice.

"Yes," Imran said, "Stefan described your relationship to us but it wasn't adding up and now we're almost certain that he was wrong."

"_Why_, what did he say?" Damon asked, leaning forward, his voice suddenly angry. Bonnie's eyes narrowed at that but she looked back to Amelia who already had her eyes on her.

"_Well_," Imran said, leaning back into the high back plush chair, "He obviously didn't know that the two of you love one another." Damon spluttered stupidly at the quickly rising tension in the room as two complete strangers dissected their newfound relationship and Bonnie's mouth fell open while her skin heated up. "Please don't bother deny it," Imran went on as if the two supernaturals in front of him didn't look set to flee the room, "You should instead dedicate your efforts to uncovering how deep this love goes because I am sure it had _**everything**_ to do with whatever's going on here. Dimensional magic, being as uncontrollable as it is coupled with a witches _love_? Who knows what could come into being." Damon and Bonnie slowly turned to look at one another, both their expressions tensed for whatever was about to come out of the other's mouth.

* * *

><p><strong>*laughs wickedly*<strong>


	15. Chapter 15

**Ever had words rolling around in your mouth that just **_**had**_** to come out?**

**That's what this chapter was for me.**

**(You guys are the best. The **_**BEST!**_**)**

* * *

><p>Damon had sped from the room before he could prove or disprove Imran's words and Bonnie couldn't help but wonder why. They'd been so open about their newfound bond with one another that it wouldn't have taken much to say that they loved one another. Bonnie sighed as she looked to Amelia and Imran with a shake of her head and a muttered 'sorry' as she followed after Damon. Sniffing him out she walked right out the front of the house and saw him marching determinedly to the group of their friends that were enjoying the summer sun on the beach that was moments from the house.<p>

"_**Elena**_!" Damon barked and Bonnie's eyes bulged, and she picked up her pace, "I need to talk to you."

"_**Damon**_!" Bonnie yelled, hoping to calm him down before it got out of hand, if he didn't want to admit that he loved her that was _fine_ but she didn't like the feeling that was weighing on her chest as hurried after Damon – nothing good could come from him like this. "Damon, _**wait**_!" He spun around and looked ready to snap at her before he physically jerked backwards to stop himself. Pinching the bridge of his nose and pressing his eyes shut Damon drew in a breath.

"Bonnie, _please_," he said his voice barely stable, "I'll be with you in a second; there's just something I have to do." Elena jogged over with a frown on her face as she took in the tension between the two of them before eyes settled on Damon. She didn't know what it was but it was that silent exchange between Damon and Bonnie that irked her somewhat.

"You – you wanted to talk?" Elena began, folding her arms over her chest and Bonnie wanted to edge away but Elena's eyes landed on her. "No _stay_ you two do everything together now anyways I hear, why stop now?" Bonnie's jaw dropped and Damon laughed darkly.

"Don't even go there with me," Damon hissed, stepping towards her, "I just have a few things to get off of my chest before Bonnie and I can figure out what's happening to us."

"…Sure." Elena said noncommittally and Bonnie almost smacked her forehead when she saw Damon's shoulders tense up and his hands ball at his sides.

"You erased our relationship," Damon began, his voice thick with emotion and Bonnie's heart contracted painfully – how could Elena have _done_ such a thing? "You removed your love for me from your memory after four _measly_ months." Elena swallowed uncomfortably along with Bonnie, who really wished she could inch away and flee to where Caroline and Enzo were standing… _clearly_ eavesdropping. "And that's something that's been chewing at me since I got Bonnie back, since _I've_ been back really, when I had moments where I remembered myself outside of her," he drew in a shuddering breath and blew it out, "You must have forgotten who you were dating, who you _chose_ to love at the end of it _all_ – **me**…a man who spent all his days mourning after a woman with the face in front of me right now, I waited for Katherine for longer than you've **lived**, a _couple of times over_ and you couldn't hold out after _**four**_ _**months**_?! I'm _not_ a good person, I have _very_ few redeeming qualities but I've _**never**_ been a quitter and I've never been _anything_ but **loyal** to the one I love, you'd think I'd have gotten that in return – the _second_ time at _least_ but **no**…you had to put _**another**_ thing between us Elena and I…I'm _**done**_."

"…_**What?**_" She gasped.

"You heard me," Damon snapped, "Get the memories back or _don't_ but I won't be there waiting when you've made your choice because I've made _mine_…for _myself_, for probably the first time in my life and it seems to working out a hell of a lot better than everything before." Damon looked to Bonnie quickly before he looked back to Elena, "All we've been doing since the day we met Elena is try to be something we're not…you're not good for _me_ and I'm not good for _you_ and I'm tired of pretending that _ignoring_ _that_ is _**enough**_ for me, because it's not." Tears pooled in Elena's eyes and Damon growled. "Why are you crying Elena? You don't even _remember_ anything!"

"I'm **sorry**!" She shouted in return and Bonnie flinched a little and took a step back.

"_**Are you**_? How could you _possibly_ be sorry for something that you're _**still**_ doing?" Damon snarled and turned and walked off leaving Elena and Bonnie gaping after him. Bonnie twitched, instinctively wanting to follow after him and she heard Elena laugh bitterly.

"Go on," Elena said waving a hand in the direction Damon had left in, "Run after him, he's your best friend now isn't he?" Bonnie's jaw clamped tight and she exhaled slowly and sharply as she looked at Elena, trying to find some inkling of the girl she'd killed herself trying to love and protect. Bonnie knew Elena was upset but that didn't justify her attitude.

"You're right," Bonnie said crossing her arms, "He _is_ my best friend, because he wanted to send me back instead of himself, he was the only one to put me first for the first time in who knows _how_ long and he reminded me of what love and friendship _really_ is and hear me when I say this Elena …but it was because of **you** I seemed to have had forgotten what it was all about." Elena's mouth fell open. "A _**long**_ time ago." Bonnie turned on her heel then and made her way back to Imran's house with a frazzled mind and a heavy heart.

* * *

><p>"I <em>literally<em> never thought I'd see the day." Caroline whispered to Enzo, stepping closer to him unconsciously as she watched Bonnie leave, tapping the back of her hand against his chest, "You spent a while with Damon, did he ever get like this?"

"Honestly, ever since he got back without Bonnie he's been equal parts different and precisely the same as I remember…different in the way he conducts himself with matters of the heart, plus the whole hallucination thing but the _same_ in that he's as fiery and volatile as always." Caroline nodded as she watched Elena stalk off to Stefan who'd been in a heated debate with Lucy and Fahada about geomancy in South Africa. "I'm just glad the nightmares stopped." Caroline looked at Enzo then and smiled.

"Me too." She said and laughed when he broke out into a grin.

* * *

><p>"<em>Damon<em>," Bonnie said, having used unnatural speed to rush to the beach house and follow him via his scent. She found him in one of the wings, standing still in front of a post-modernist painting of a werewolf howling under a full luminescent moon. Bonnie huffed out a breath and walked slowly to him, being sure to keep a modicum of space between them when she reached him. "Damon?" He didn't turn when she called the second time so she gave up and stared at the painting hanging in front of them. Upon closer inspection she noticed that the werewolf's eyes shone a bright crimson and its canines were dripping with saliva and blood while its fur stood out in tufts of bronze stained with blood. The moon itself was the only 'peaceful' component of the image, with the ledge the wolf was standing on overlooking jagged rocks below that promised death as they shone in the moonlight. Bonnie continued to run her eyes over the painting as Damon's gaze fell to her face. She made sure to control her breathing but there was only so much she could do about her heart rate. She paid extra attention to the fine detailing used to paint the wolf's fur, noting that you could spot flecks of golds and browns if you stared long enough.

"Bonnie?" Damon's voice called to her, as soft as she'd ever heard it, but she didn't respond. He took a step closer to her then, sideways so that he still faced the painting, letting their shoulders brush past one another as he moved. "Bonnie look at me."

"_No_, it's so easy for you to refuse me when I ask you to talk…_why am I even here right now_?" She'd aimed the last bit to herself, not wanting to be privy to another one of Damon's blow-outs. She'd had plenty of them when they were in purgatory together and once today – enough for a lifetime if you asked her. He stepped in front of her then and gripped her chin with his hand, dipping his head so that they saw eye to eye. Green and blue meeting in more ways than one.

"I'm sorry." He said and Bonnie could admit that she liked how he was starting off, "I shouldn't have left in the middle of the meeting with Imran and Amelia but after the things he said…and the things he alluded to Stefan saying…I had to set the record straight."

"Are you done doing that?" Bonnie wondered, knowing he wasn't, she just wasn't sure how he planned to go about the rest of his apparent epiphanies.

"Nope." He said with a here and gone smile, "You're next on the list actually." Bonnie's heart thumped in protest. "Nothing bad I promise," Damon said upon hearing her body's reaction to his words, "Well, I suppose it depends on your definition of 'bad'."

"What should my definition of bad be?" Bonnie asked, pulling her chin out of his hold and crossing her arms. "Because if this is the part where you tell me what a terrible person you are then I hate to break it to you Damon, but I already knew that." Damon nodded with a wry smile.

"I know you do and we both know you saw the good in me despite that." Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"Because you _are_ good Damon, you just insist on dedicating your life to proving otherwise because you think that's all your good for."

"Thought." He said simply and that brought her up short.

"Excuse me?" She replied.

"_Thought_," Damon repeated, "I _thought_ it was all I was good for." Bonnie's mouth fell open in a silent 'oh'. "But now I know I was wrong, you showed me I was wrong."

"I _did_?" He nodded.

"I thought that being loved was about Elena choosing me or being better than Stefan or a whole host of other stupid things but I was wrong –"

"I could have told you that –"

"You tried, I'm sure," Damon conceded, "But I need you to keep your mouth shut for like, a minute, can you do that for me please?" Bonnie would have scowled and said no if he hadn't caught her off guard with his sudden use of good manners by saying 'please'. She nodded. He looked at her seriously, holding his breath for a moment, his eyes already imploring to understand and accept the words he was yet to say. "Bonnie… I think I'm in love with you, and I _know_," he said with his hands splayed out in front of him, "That the timing **sucks** and that you're probably still hung up on Jeremy or your newfound freedom or _whatever_ but I think that when we died our old lives died along with us, like they should have _years_ ago…I made decisions I hope you _**never**_ forgive me for because I'm not sure I'll ever really deserve it… but one thing I'll _**never**_ stop reminding you of is how _grateful_ I am that you thought I was _worthy_ enough to be saved and that I was worth your _hope_ and _love_ and _effort_ and **care**…because let's face it, not once did I ever really try to be good to you, not until it was too late really but I want you to know that I'm trying now –"

"Damon –"

"And I won't _stop_ trying," Damon went on as if she hadn't said anything, "I love you Bonnie and that's why it hurt so much when you put me in front of you, when I woke up without you repeatedly, my soul knew something my mind was yet to grasp… until you found your way back…back to me," He looked so sad and pained then, "Bonnie I _**love**_ you, I'm _**in**_ love with you." Her mouth hung open. "Why else did it hurt so much?" He asked, like she'd know, "Why else did you stay even after I left you behind? Why did you stay _**here**_," he pointed to his chest, his undead heart, his fingers digging into the skin angrily like he was willing it to beat for her, "You _**stayed here**_ and there's a reason for that." Both of them gasped softly as they saw the other's eyes begin to glow after Damon spoke, like his words had ignited something in the both of them.

"Damon, I –"

"_No_," he said walking away from her backwards so their eyes were still locked, "Don't say anything. Let's figure out what's happening with us because of the 'bond' or whatever it is. The rest can wait." He used vampire speed to leave her standing there, one leg bent as she was about to walk to him. She knew he was only trying to protect himself from being rejected again but she _would_ have said the words back, no matter how confused she really felt and _maybe_…maybe he had guessed that.

"…I love you too." She muttered anyway.

* * *

><p><strong>While I was writing this I was listening to "<strong>_**Monster**_**" by Paramore and there was this one lyric that just stuck with me "Don't you ever wonder, how we survived?" and I could see Damon in my head asking Elena this over and over and her not having an answer…So that's how this chapter was made. Heh.**

**Stay excellent.**


	16. Chapter 16

***looks over shoulder before looking back at you and slides this chapter across the table***

* * *

><p>The next day:<p>

"Okay Bonnie, I'm going to need you to be as still as possible and to clear your head as much as you can." Bonnie nodded as her hands gripped the arms of the chair she was seated in. She knew Damon's eyes were on her, as well as Imran's as Amelia's fingertips touched the sides of her temples but she pushed it down. She took a deep breath and as she exhaled she imagined she was blowing all of her thoughts away until her mind was a blank slate. "Perfect." Amelia's voice commended her and then Bonnie felt Amelia's magic dip into her consciousness, digging for answers that weren't even guaranteed. Bonnie's breathing hitched and she heard the smallest sound of movement, from where Damon was last standing before she'd closed her eyes – almost like he'd jerked a little in response to her. Damon watched as a frown spread over both witches faces as he and Imran stood aside, eyes trained on the women before them. Bonnie's face wasn't sitting well with him, the small pinched expression she wore; like she was experiencing some kind of pressure and Damon knew what it had felt like because of Lucy having searched his mind as well. He crossed his arms to keep himself from intervening; his hands fisted so tightly he was sure he'd just heard a metacarpal break. There went another one. Imran turned to him then and put a hand on Damon's shoulder in empathy. Damon didn't even turn to look at the man, his eyes stayed on Bonnie. A whimper fell from her lips and Damon moved then, talking a determined step forward only to be pulled back by Fahada – who knew when she'd even walked into the room? Damon looked down at the girl who was about the same build as Bonnie, if not smaller, her grey eyes clear and set with authority – something he would have never predicted coming from a face so kind. Fahada shook her head as she turned back to look at Bonnie.

"_Amelia_." Bonnie muttered, her voice pained and the three vampires watched as Bonnie's back arched, her head falling back against the chair that was almost three times her size. "Stop, please." Fahada's other hand gripped Damon and held him back with an unmovable force and Damon would have snarled at her if Bonnie's eyes hadn't opened in that moment. Her eyes sent iridescent shimmers that bounced off of the stark walls as a cosmic light shone through them. Amelia gasped but kept on, beginning to chant softly for serenity and clarity as she continued to scour Bonnie's mind. Damon stopped fighting against Fahada's impossible hold and watched as Imran flashed to a nearby bookshelf and tugged at the spine of a black weathered book until it fell into his hands with a low 'oof'. Amelia exhaled sharply and stepped away from Bonnie whose body immediately slumped forward, her head hanging down, hiding her face. Damon yanked himself away from Fahada who let him go and not a second later he was in front of Bonnie, lifting her face.

"_Bonnie_," Damon hissed tapping her cheek, "Bonnie, wake up." Her head lolled around in his hold and it twisted at his chest that she always ended up like this whenever magic was involved – he didn't like seeing her like this, _in fact_, he'd grown to sincerely hate it. Turning his neck he locked eyes with Amelia whose face was blank, "What did you _do_?" He accused and she shook her head.

"A standard searching spell." Amelia said, crossing her arms, "And I think you'll find that she is perfectly fine." Damon's eyes snapped back to Bonnie's face who had her own eyes on him already.

"Bonnie." He said again, needing to be reassured. She nodded and tried to smile as he held her face in his hands but he didn't believe her. "Are you okay?" Bonnie wanted to say no; because she hadn't been okay since he'd declared his love for her, in fact, she hadn't been okay since she sent him back without her, or since they died together, or since he'd brought her back as the Anchor, or before then when he was the only who waited for her on the island…something she'd only _just_ remembered for some reason…She saw every nightmare he'd had when he came back without her; every hallucination, every gasp, every scream, **everything**…Whatever Amelia had done had unlocked so many things in her mind and Bonnie was almost dizzy with all the new information coming at her from every angle. Yet all she could think of was the vampire in front of her, looking beside himself as he waited for her to say something – _anything_.

"I'm fine." She said softly, nodding when he raised his eyebrows, "_Really_." Damon nodded though he looked anything but convinced and in a flash they were both standing and facing the three supernaturals who had been quietly observing them. "I think you sealed together a few pieces of my mind that had been altered previously because of _Expression_, because I now have memories that I didn't have before…"

"Memories of?" Amelia prompted, she'd seen a few but she needed Bonnie's verbal confirmation.

"Of Damon." Bonnie said as evenly as she could, his eyes immediately on her face, "And what happened on the island when we were all searching for the cure for vampirism." Amelia nodded while Imran flipped through the book in his hands at a flurrying speed while Fahada narrowed her eyes in thought.

"We should do Damon next." Fahada said as she pursed her lips, "Whatever this thing is, it needs to have them remain in equal balance and in close proximity, look at what happened when they were in separate dimensions, when they were miles apart, this magic between them is _magnetic_…we can't afford any imbalances. Search Damon's mind and hopefully we'll unlock something there as well that can speed the process of our understanding."

"Yes," Imran concurred, "And in the meantime Fahada and I will begin assembling the physiological tests to ascertain just how many supernatural traits have been exchanged between the two of them." Amelia nodded and then turned back to the confused couple standing in front of them. What a sight they made, their souls so clearly split between them, as clear as day in their eyes as they stood as close to one another as possible without the other noticing. Amelia smiled then and extended her hand to Damon, showing him to sit where Bonnie had been. Nodding, Damon sat down and looked up at Bonnie, who stepped back even though anyone with eyes could see she wanted to comfort him and assure him that everything would be fine – she knew how much he hated this; it reminded him of his time without her. Instead she clasped her hands together and nodded at Amelia.

"Damon, I'm going to need you to be still…" Amelia began as Fahada and Imran flashed out of the room and up to the third floor to ready the tests.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you didn't see it." Lucy said in reference to what was happening to Damon and Bonnie, as she trailed a hand through the sand, creating a curve as she drew. Stefan watched her hand move; sighing as they sat side by side on the quiet beaches of Meh-lk – Boss, or something like that…he couldn't pronounce the name.<p>

"I think I was too set in my ways, in what I thought was plausible and what wasn't." Stefan said, his eyebrows furrowing as usual.

"And what's that?" Lucy asked with a smile in her voice as she kept drawing. Stefan moved to lean his weight on his hands as they extended behind him.

"That Damon loved Elena," Stefan said seriously, his eyes focused on the rumbling ocean in front of them, only a few feet away, "But I didn't think that he'd one day be able to see past it…I think we all forgot how long he'd been mourning Katherine when he met Elena…it never occurred to me that Elena could have just been another stage of his mourning – of him coming to terms with certain things, I mean as a…a transference of feelings sure, but I never thought he'd ever move on from loving the same face he has for as long as we've been vampires…you know?" he turned to Lucy then, who was nodding as she drew what was turning out to be a rune-like symbol for strength with sharp angles and sweeping curves. "What's that?" he asked and she looked up then, surprised he was watching her hands.

"A rune," she said, dusting her hands off with a smile, "For strength, I was studying a tribe a while back that believed in decorating their bodies with runes to call on the spirits to protect them when they went to war." Stefan nodded. "But _yes_," she said, returning to what Stefan had been talking about, "I don't think anyone could have predicted Bonnie and Damon loving one another, not with this, _intensity_…I mean…they called to one another through different **dimensions** Stefan, I don't think we've realised how _incredible_ that is…it's more than magic and it's more than love…whatever they have growing between them is _literally_ not of this world and they need our help nurturing that, supporting that, because if they don't it will have dire consequences for _both_ of them. You saw what happened to Damon when he was without Bonnie…" Stefan's chest tightened at the memory of his brother writhing in pain and misery, "I don't think they could survive without each other and that bond has been progressing exponentially every day, who knows when it will reach it's pinnacle…if ever."

"So what do we do?" Stefan asked after a few moments of them looking at each other with the ocean water curling and crashing in front of them. Lucy looked out to the water with a small shrug before looking back at him.

"Whatever we can."

* * *

><p>Bonnie was chewing on her bottom lip ruthlessly, only stopping when she managed to draw blood. Damon sucked in a sharp breath and his eyes shot open, much like Bonnie's had earlier, casting a blinding brightness all over the room and Bonnie's jaw dropped. Amelia ended her chant and stepped away from Damon as his head drooped forward, his body suddenly completely slackened. Bonnie rushed to his side, much like he had done and held his face up and ran her fingers over his cheeks as she waited for his eyes to open. When they did she'd never been happier… though she knew he would regain consciousness; she didn't like the idea of him being unconscious one bit, not for <em>one<em> second. Damon smiled at the worry on Bonnie's face, loving that it was there and that she had one of his eyes…like the world could see that she had one half of his soul, which Damon knew to the core of his being that she did – he just didn't know if _she_ did.

"You're okay?" She asked, moving to help him stand, and he let her, as unnecessary as it was. He nodded as he looked down at her, his smile still perfectly in place. He squeezed her one hand that was still holding his and nodded.

"I'm fine." He said and she nodded, turning to Amelia who was scribbling things in her notes. Looking up, the witch smiled at them.

"From my preliminary searching I can tell you this; the love and magic are not separate, _one_ isn't the cause of the _other_, they are perfectly unified in causing whatever phenomenon this is. _So_, before you think feelings are growing as a result of the magic I assure you they are not, nor is the magic being propelled because of how you feel. They are one in the same, much like your minds are one in the same…you remember the island because _Damon_ remembers…I didn't seal any parts of your mind, I think I just reaffirmed this bond between the two of you and strengthened it…you two are very quickly becoming more and more connected… as well as…and Imran and Fahada will confirm this, the first recorded cases of the witch-vampire breed."

"The _what_?" Bonnie gasped.

"_Both_ of us?" Damon asked, shocked, at the same time Bonnie had spoken. Amelia merely nodded in response to them both.

"…You're turning into hybrids." Fahada's voice piped up as she appeared in the office once more, "And if you'll be so kind as to follow me, we have some tests that can confirm that."

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><p><strong>*claps hands excitedly*<strong>


	17. Chapter 17

**I still can't believe this came out of a **_**one-shot**_**. **

**I hope you guys like the direction I've taken, I **_**really**_** do. Also, ask me as many questions as you like about this, now that I know where I'm headed I'm pretty stoked and want to make sure you're all with me. I'm actually pretty nervous about this**

**...It took me by surprise as well.**

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><p>Bonnie walked quietly behind Damon as they ascended the stairwell with Fahada at a human pace that seemed to irk Bonnie more than anyone else. She'd been on edge since returning to Earth, because she didn't know where she stood with anyone really; everything was dangling precariously in the air…The <em>only<em> solid something in her life; the vampire who was walking mutely ahead of her, well within arms-reach, had declared his love for her and thrown what little she'd come to know up in the air along with everything else. And now _this_. Fahada had led them to a stairwell on the far right of the estate; it was the only one that led to the third level as it opened up to the floor itself that was open-plan in its construction. Bonnie and Damon looked around as they reached the tops of the stairs – greeted with high wooden-beamed ceilings, spotless gleaming wooden floors. The heavy-set metal tables were all pushed against the white walls that were decorated with anatomical diagrams and maps of the world that ranged from being human-specific, to indications of which parts of land were claimed by various supernatural clans and covens. Bonnie's eyes darted this way and that before settling on the only table that was left in the centre of the humungous space where Imran stood with a patient smile on his face as he beckoned them with a gentle wave of his hand. Bonnie flashed to stand opposite him while Damon took his time approaching the table, indifferent to the three pairs of eyes that watched him in silence as he dawdled much to Imran's amusement. Imran tried to keep his expression as neutral as possible as he spoke, this was after all very serious business.

"So as my wife informed you we believe you Bonnie, are amidst the strangest transitional process to becoming a vampire while Damon's newly acquired magic is trying to find footing in his supernatural constitution." Damon frowned.

"My newly acquired _what now_?" He asked, sticking his neck out a little as his eyebrows shot up.

"You didn't think it strange when a Bennett witch used magic to try and protect herself from you and _nothing_ happened?" Fahada quipped, her soft voice and her tone having a jarring effect on the vampire who promptly shut his mouth. Imran nodded to himself and looked to Bonnie.

"We'll be doing standard reflex tests with you, gaging your physical and instinctual reactions to try and see just how much vampirism is present in your system," he turned to Damon then, "for you it's a little more complicated," Imran said, "I hope you have some knowledge of witchcraft because you'll need it as you'll be casting spells in the next few minutes."

"_Excuse_ you?" Damon sassed, a dark eyebrow arching incredulously. "I don't cast _spells_. Never have."

"Well," Fahada said, taking a step towards him, "You do now."

"Damon stop being so _difficult_." Bonnie muttered, looking up at him with tired eyes, "This is why we came here, to figure this out." Damon looked at her, his features still held in an unhappy compilation but he nodded, a quick, business-like motion and she pressed her lips together and nodded in return. They turned to Imran in unison and crossed their arms, looked at each other askance at their synchronicity, looked back at Imran and rolled their eyes.

"Shall we begin?" Imran asked, his voice sprinkled with laughter.

* * *

><p>Amelia sighed softly as she sat opposite Lucy and Stefan in her library while they all busied themselves with reading, waiting for the first status report on Damon and Bonnie. Stefan had found an interesting novella about a werewolf's account of precolonial South Africa; before the Dutch settlers had arrived he'd lived with a tribe near the west coast, teaching them more efficient ways to hunt and how to live off of the land. They'd taught him their native tongue and dubbed him the '<em>Lone<em> _Wolf'_ something that brought a smile to Stefan's face. The book was of the same name. Lucy had found an academic text regarding _Psychonautics and Witchcraft_; the methodology of an altered state of consciousness with the use of meditation or mind-altering substances to enhance or inhibit one's magic. Both were thoroughly enthralled while Amelia ran through her case study notes she'd compiled regarding Bonnie and Damon. She'd constructed a timeline of their interactions, using both their and Stefan and Elena's accounts thereof. It turned out to be rather telling; especially regarding how Stefan and Elena had viewed Damon and Bonnie's 'relationship'. It only occurred to Elena once that Damon may have cared for Bonnie whereas Stefan never saw much past his ex-girlfriend and his brother. Damon and Bonnie however, simply being in the same room with one another – told an entirely different story. This was verified when Amelia had sifted through their consciousness'. She had seen things they'd seen, felt things they'd felt and come to the astute conclusion that no one – including Bonnie and Damon could have predicted their relationship taking this turn…in _this_ way. Neither of them had ever fully acknowledged the other's feelings, or _their_ feelings to the other because their lives were inundated with war and incessant drama. It was those four months preluding to Bonnie sending Damon home without her that marked the turning point in their dynamic. Damon had offered himself up to the altar of sacrifice for her, for once, Bonnie having done the same thing so many times before – and they'd both known that she'd do it again…and she did. In that moment their love took hold, found its footing as she sent him careening back home without her. Their love, as it was realised was torn apart by the immediate separation of the two of them. Cue Damon's hysteria and Lucy delving into his mind only to solidify whatever had manifested there upon their separation – causing them to meet halfway between Earth and Elsewhere and ultimately giving Bonnie the motivation to return home…

"_Incredible_." Amelia muttered. Lucy and Stefan looked up at Amelia who seemed to be unaware that she'd spoken at all, her eyes still down on the pages in front of her. Stefan and Lucy locked eyes then, shrugged, and went on with their reading.

* * *

><p>Bonnie had never been happier to have been a cheerleader more than in this moment. She'd been especially bad-ass at tumbling and used these dormant skills to evade Fahada's speedy 'attacks'. Rolling out of the way with impressive agility Bonnie flashed back to her feet and side-stepped a wooden arrow before bending backwards and using her hands for momentary balance as she avoided an axe that had been thrown her way. Once Fahada had realised just how deft Bonnie was, she stopped holding back. Flashing upright she ran headlong towards Fahada, side-stepping each arrow until she was within arm's reach. Fahada's pretty face tilted into a smirk and Bonnie's confidence faltered. With a swift kick Bonnie was sent flying backwards but she managed to turn the motion into a backflip and landed with her one knee pressed to the floor and the other bent as she looked up and grinned at the vampire girl. Fahada nodded and tossed the crossbow aside.<p>

"Impressive." The girl said with another nod, "But I wonder if you've been exposed to any of _this_ yet." Then, a smell so sugary and so intoxicatingly mouth-watering wafted to Bonnie as she stood roughly twenty feet from where Fahada had taken the lid off of a container.

"_What_," Bonnie shuddered as she stood up, "…Is _that_?"

"Blood." Damon said from where he stood with Imran. Bonnie moaned as she twitched, staying rooted to the spot for fear of what she might do. Her face hadn't even changed into its vampiric form.

"Again," Fahada said, "Impressive." Bonnie whimpered. "She has exceptional control." Bonnie saw Imran nod in her peripheral vision, while Damon's eyes stayed trained on her as she stood there. "Would you like to taste this?" Bonnie began shaking her head in the negative but not a moment later was she nodding desperately. If she was in the midst of transitioning into a vampire then drinking blood would surely seal the deal and she wasn't sure if she was ready for that…if she'd _ever_ be ready.

"This isn't what I wanted. Not _ever_." Bonnie hissed, tears welling up in her eyes, "I don't –"

"Chances are," Fahada interrupted, walking slowly to Bonnie with the container of Amelia's blood cradled carefully in her hands, "It's for the best if you _do_." Imran flashed to stand beside Fahada, walking along with her, falling in stride with her as they slowly approached Bonnie who'd already taken two steps back.

"**Stop**." Damon said, suddenly in front of Bonnie. "She said she didn't _**want**_ to." Bonnie stared at Damon's back and felt her mouth part in a mixture of gratitude, awe and sudden awareness.

Damon had been _right_, when they'd died it _had_ all changed – Bonnie was used to dying, but that didn't mean that the thought haunted her or terrified her any less when she ran a continuously high risk of dying once more just _being_ who she was. Maybe this was literally the Universe's way of making sure she stood a better chance this time around? That she'd be less fragile and fallible, that she could withstand more and have a chance at her _own_ future…

"Do you think this _pleases_ us?" Imran said, his voice hard for the first time since Bonnie and Damon had met him, "My wife is a witch too and I _assure_ you, I would be handling it in this exact manner…Bonnie's life changed irrevocably when she sent you home without her, when she managed to return herself to this realm and we _have_ to deal with these consequences if she wishes to survive…Not drinking this blood isn't going to change the _facts_. If anything, it could be to her detriment." Bonnie swallowed and set her shoulders; they were right. Damon swore he felt her resolve dwindle even before he spun around to look down at her. Bonnie locked eyes with him and though they were still harbouring unshed tears she side stepped him and looked to Fahada who held out the bowl to her. _Be _brave_ Bonnie_, she said to herself.

Bonnie's mouth had gone dry as she stepped forward to receive it. She felt Damon move closer and Bonnie pressed her eyes shut and lifted the corner of the container to her mouth and took the smallest sip. Then another. And then she screamed. Damon caught the container before it tipped over and spilled onto the floor, blindly holding it out to Imran or Fahada as he held Bonnie's writhing body by her waist as she began to struggle against her transition. Damon's eyes were wide with horror; he eased them both onto the floor and cradled her as she cried out in pain. He didn't know what to do and though it infuriated him he refused to let that crowd his thoughts – so he thought of anything that could help her. He could hear her heart slamming against her chest, fighting the good fight until it gave one hard thump, then another, fluttering one before it stopped altogether. She cried out as her fangs slid out of her gums, and he knew the pain all too well.

"Look at me, Bonnie," he said tapping the side of her face vigorously until her eyes popped open, their blue-green gone now with a black and red swirling around in her orbs as veins swam to the surface of her skin. "You're _okay_, just breathe through it." Her face pinched in discomfort and her mouth trembled but her breathing became deeper and soon her eyes returned to what Damon had now come to find normal. One blue and one green – just like his. Bonnie blew out a shaky breath and her head fell back as she pressed her eyes shut. He heard her fangs slide back and he relaxed a little.

"That was _awful_." She whispered when she lifted her head back up. "It was awful and incredible." Damon nodded knowingly. Imran and Fahada exchanged glances, once again surprised by Bonnie's flawless self-control – with _witch's_ blood no less and how quickly she able to bring herself back from her vampiric state during her first turn.

"You did great though, didn't even spill any blood or anything." Damon complimented as he helped her into a sitting position, keeping an arm around her waist as they turned to face the vampire siblings. "So she transitioned…now what?"

"Now _you_ cast some spells." Fahada said and Damon slumped back a little.

"Great." He said with a tight smile and flashed to his feet, pulling Bonnie up by the hand she intended to swat his chest with. Grinning he flicked her nose and sauntered over to Imran and Bonnie moved aside and smiled sheepishly at Fahada who chuckled.

"Don't feel bad," the vampire girl said, "That's actually the best version of how that scenario could have gone." Bonnie searched Fahada's face and then something clicked in place.

"…Why do I get the feeling you're constantly holding back your _real_ strength from us?" Bonnie asked, "I mean you're always so calm and from my experience that stems from a bone-deep confidence in your capabilities." Fahada grinned openly then as she watched Damon wave his arms around exasperatedly at something Imran had said.

"Because I am," Fahada said matter-of-factly, "I am much older than you and all of your vampire friends combined, stronger than Lucy too, I have no reason to fear you or to fear for my safety. People assume me to be timid and shy because I choose the moments I speak very _specifically_ but I'm not. In fact, if you were to know me fully you wouldn't feel comfortable standing near me…I am capable of great evil…" she looked over at her brother then, "But Imran says I show the purity of my soul when I choose not to act on those capabilities…" she snickered, "But he's always been the optimist between the two of us… I don't give into my base instincts as a vampire, because I know if I did I wouldn't have to worry about condemnation or hell because I'd make one of this world." Bonnie's mouth fell open slightly. "But that's the truth that lives in us _all_ fledgling," Fahada went on, "We are all capable of great evil…As supernaturals we just approach that actuality at an unprecedented pace and there's more at stake when we decide to take matters into our own hands…_You_ Bonnie, are now capable of a multitude of things that used to haunt your dreams but that won't change who you are…you're _much_ too good for that, like Imran. You'll be the one to save the world as opposed to watching it burn."

"Is it," Bonnie swallowed and cleared her throat as she looked at Fahada, "Is it weird that I like you more after saying all of that?" Fahada shook her head.

"I'm glad you do, it gets awfully lonely when you live by the truth." Bonnie nodded, agreeing wholly with the sentiment, "But don't delve too deeply into my misgivings, you should be watching Damon right now." Bonnie's eyes flashed to Damon then and her mouth fell open – _fully_ this time. He had his palm extended confidently; and hanging suspended in the air just inches from his open hand were ten arrows, all aimed at his heart; each arrow pointed inward, pressed closely to another as they honed in one target. Damon growled and sent off a pulse of magic and the arrows burst into small splinters that froze mid-air to avoid shooting all over the room and injuring the vampires inside of it. Bonnie blinked a few times and set the slivers of wood alight, Damon turning to smile at her as the embers floated up and away from him. His magic seemed completely instinctual, which explained why Lucy couldn't use spells against him; he'd been thwarted her efforts without even consciously _casting_ a spell.

"_That_," Damon said, pointing to where the arrows had been, "Was fucking _**awesome**_."

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><p><strong>I see you guys asking for babies and it <strong>_**tickles**_** me. **

**If you play nice I'll post the next chapter. It's ready and waiting**

**Stay excellent.**


	18. Chapter 18

***wiggles eyebrows***

**Ask and ye shall receive. **_**ladylibre**_**, I hope you realise this means we're besties now. Lol. Also, **_**Dahlia's Note**_**, your review had me in stitches – the Jay Z and Beyoncé of magic? **_**Stahp**_**. All your comments have my heart aflutter so I shall pay you all back in kind. It's all your guys' fault how dumb I look right now from grinning so damn much.**

**You're a wonderful bunch X**

* * *

><p><em>Let's get out of this town<em>

_Baby we're on fire_

_Everyone around here_

_Seems to be going down, down_

_If you stick with me_

_I can take you higher_

_And higher_

_It feels like all of our friends are lost_

_Nobodies found, found_

_I got so scared_

_I thought no one could save me_

_You came along_

_Scooped me up like a baby_

_- Lucky Ones, Lana Del Rey_

The following morning Bonnie lay in bed with her eyes on the ceiling above her. All night she'd been listening to the waves crashing as if the water was rushing straight into her ears. Sitting upright she frowned, smelling something she never thought she would again. The distinct smell of cooking pancake batter. Quickly making the bed she showered, dressed and primped before speeding off following the scent to land up at the threshold of the kitchen watching Damon and Lucy arguing over what to put on as toppings.

"Whipped cream doesn't even make _sense_ Damon." Lucy argued, trying to pry the can from his hands to no avail. He grinned as he spun away from her, shaking the can as he moved.

"They're not going on _yours_." He said, his tongue sticking out as he moved his hand in a curve and sprayed whipped cream onto a pile of pancakes like he was putting the final brush of paint on a masterpiece.

"Not on mine either." Bonnie said, announcing her presence with a sly smile, "I've had enough of those to last me a lifetime." She walked over to him and rolled her eyes, sure enough he had drawn a vampire face with blueberries for eyes. She swept up a taste of whip cream with a finger and he gave her his trademark 'you're welcome' face.

"Too late," Damon said with a triumphant grin, "I made them especially for you." Bonnie shook her head but laughed softly.

"Of course you did." She muttered with mirth colouring her tone. "_Thanks_… I guess." She moved to sit next to Amelia who was sipping on a mug of coffee and reading something; her hair spilling over her shoulders in lovely waves as she sat with reading glasses on, her body wrapped up in a silk robe that was patterned with cherry blossoms.

"I also got you something else," Damon said with a quick lift of his brow, "But you have to finish your breakfast before you even find out what it _is_." Lucy rolled her eyes with her back to them as she finished off the rest of the batch. Damon had pressed so hard for pancakes and had only ended helping to make three of them, _all for Bonnie_. She didn't know why she was surprised. Bonnie looked at Damon and then down at her pancakes.

"What if I can't eat them all?" Bonnie asked, hardly interested in the prospect of eating at all really, what with her stomach in knots. He needed to stop looking at her like that.

"Then you ask me nicely so that _I_ can help and then …_surprise_." Damon promised with a wink as he turned back to Lucy who waved the spatula at him.

"Don't even think about it Salvatore, do us all a favour and irritate Bonnie instead." Lucy said her hand on her hip while her hair was pulled up in a messy bun in a pair of denim shorts and a loose fitted white tank. Amelia chuckled into her mug, hazel eyes glittering with equal mischief as Lucy's. Bonnie gasped at the playful betrayal and shook her head as she laughed at Damon who shimmied his way over to her.

"I've been put in time out." Damon said with a pout stealing a blueberry from her plate. Bonnie snickered.

"It's hardly time out if you're with me." Bonnie said smugly. Damon's brows rose in pretend shock.

"Well _excuse_ me Miss Bennett but I do believe I have heard rumours of you cavorting with dark haired vampire boys." Damon teased and Bonnie's eyes popped as she giggled.

"Well I'd check my sources if I were you but the only _cavorting_ was done by the vampire himself, see, he had a penchant for drinking bourbon and dancing to nineties anthems."

"Sounds like a guy I could party with," Damon mused, "Did you get his number?" Bonnie shoved at his shoulder, picking at the edge of the top pancake and popping a piece into her mouth. It did bring back surprisingly fond memories with its flavour; especially with Damon smiling at her like he was in that moment.

"I _did_," Bonnie said after she swallowed, "But only as a favour to him, I threw it away the minute he turned his back."

"Minx," Damon said in a quick whisper, nudging her shoulder with his as Caroline and Fahada walked into the kitchen. Bonnie smiled at them and then looked to Amelia who winked. Looking around the kitchen Bonnie could understand the comforts that came with immortality; the room was wide and open, lined with glass-front cupboards and shelves that housed pots, pans and skillets and various utensils and crockery. The island in the middle, much like their dining room table could seat a horde of people, with the chairs surrounding it indicating as much. Even with the island come table the kitchen still had ample space to move between the fridge, stoves and ovens – a host's dream. "Morning ladies." Damon said with a cheeky grin as he saluted Fahada who patted his head as she walked past him. Damon chuckled; she was so tiny and the image of pure innocence but he'd gotten an inkling of the warrior that rippled just beneath the surface. Fahada wouldn't bat an eyelash, or stain her clothes when she took you out – she was much too subtle and experienced for that. The perfect killer if you asked him; like Elijah…but easier on the eyes considering she actually smiled at him once.

"Damon." Caroline said with a quick yawn, "Bon-Bon." She said, her face breaking into a smile.

"Morning Care." Bonnie smiled as Lucy spun around and placed a steaming pile of fresh pancakes in the middle of the kitchen island.

"How come Bonnie's got a smiley face on hers?" Caroline teased.

"Because Damon's an idiot?" Lucy offered with a wry smile at the same time that Bonnie offered her plate to Caroline. Damon tapped Bonnie's extended arm and pulled the plate away narrowing his eyes at Caroline.

"If you don't eat at least one you'll regret it." Damon said matter-of-factly, his tone bordering on a sing-song effect.

"Is that a threat Salvatore?" Bonnie asked, with a huff as she reached for a nearby knife and fork. Caroline looked between Amelia and Lucy who said nothing.

"Just, _eat_ will you?" Damon said, getting to his feet, "Come to my room when you're done." The four women stopped and looked over at him strangely, "It wasn't meant to sound suspicious." He defended himself feebly, "For a group of beautiful women you lot sure do have the _foulest_ minds." He tisked and walked out of the room with Stefan entering not moments after him.

"Morning everyone." Stefan said a little awkwardly, his gaze flickering to Fahada who was poking at a pancake on her plate. Amelia put her mug down and blindly held out a bottle of syrup to Fahada, waving it a little before the vampire took it. Keeping her eyes on her book Amelia spoke up.

"Morning Stefan, when you're ready I'd like to speak with you in my office." She looked up then and smiled. Stefan nodded as he walked over to Lucy who held out a cup to him and motioned to the pot of coffee on the table.

"Of course," Stefan said with a small smile, "Whatever you need." Amelia nodded, closed her book, took the last sips of her coffee and stood to her feet. She squeezed Bonnie's shoulder as she passed.

"The rest of you should go sight-seeing or something, I'm sure a breathing period is in order, for you especially Bonnie…After Damon's surprise for you of course." Amelia winked and with a swish of soft fabric and faint perfume she left the kitchen. Stefan frowned as he looked over at Bonnie who was staring intently at her plate; her mouth scrunched up and pulled to one side. Caroline had joined in with Stefan's gawking as well, confused. Bonnie sighed and stood up, having barely touched her food. Elena walked in then and smiled shyly at everyone, immediately picking up on the settling tension in the atmosphere.

"Leave it," Lucy said with a soft smile, "I'll lie and say you ate." Bonnie beamed and nodded, making quick work of exiting the suddenly quiet room.

* * *

><p>Bonnie had been eager and anxious when she fled the kitchen but something heavier was crawling into her body as she made her way downstairs to the sleeping quarters. Fahada had talked of an even lower level; a basement of sorts where they kept more archives and weapons and other things in storage but Bonnie had been too busy staring at Damon practising magic to pay much attention. Wringing her hands she curved around the corner and stepped into the hallway where all of their guest bedrooms were. Hers was at the far end, after Damon's and she reasoned that she could just step into her room for a bit. <em>Breathe<em> or whatever it was that she felt like she couldn't do at that moment. She didn't know why she was so nervous but she was. The last time she and Damon were alone in this house he told her he loved her. The last time she was alone with him in this house she realised that she may love him too, that she _did_ love him, a nameless, shapeless thing that she'd yet to allow to take root in her heart for fear of ruining what little normality she had left. She didn't know how much she loved him or in what way she loved him and it was _this_ that spread fear into her. It left her vulnerable and susceptible to the vampire waiting in his room for her.

For so long she'd been with him; whether he was there or whether he wasn't. When they died together they were only able to do so because he'd brought her back. He'd brought her back and then they _died_, they died after saving everyone else. For once the burden or martyrdom had been divvied up between her and someone else. Damon had held her hand and he'd slipped into nothingness with her. Then they'd _months_ with one another, mourning, fighting, reeling and seething but ultimately always staying close to one another. Because she'd been all he had and he'd been the same for her. Then, when the time called for it, Bonnie did what she felt she had to, despite him telling her to leave him behind – she could never have done that to Damon. So she sent him home, only to steal a part of him solely for herself. He'd stayed with her despite her best efforts and that had been all that had kept her sane enough to find her own way home. Then, when she fell out of the sky she'd fallen into his arms and the world had slipped and fallen off of its axis, moving to a different galaxy, finding a new alignment in the stars because Damon had been running to _her_. Writhing in misery without _her_. She remembered one of the memories/hallucinations of Damon's that had flooded her mind when Amelia had sifted through her head:

_Damon was flipped onto his back and his vision was flooded with a startling brightness. He was outside, on the ground, in a forest of some sort. But the light was too warm, the colours too perfect for any of it to have been real. But as he sat up he recognised the woods he was in, he and Bonnie had walked through here to get to the cave where it all happened. Damon felt something twist in his chest, a heaviness, begging for freedom and as he exhaled it fell from his lips, a strangled sob that bounced off of the trees. "Bonnie." He whispered, his head hanging low in defeat. Maybe this was how it would be for the rest of his life if he didn't get her back? Maybe he'd hallucinate her for all of eternity. Serves him right for claiming that being stuck with her was his hell. Serves him right for continuously taking advantage of her along with everyone else who claimed to love her and care for her. Damon didn't want to fight this sentence that he'd been charged with – he deserved it. They _all_ did. Bonnie had always put herself last, if she put herself on the list of her own priorities at all – a mentality they all had had a hand in breeding in her consciousness. The misery was quickly swallowing Damon and he was seconds from succumbing to it. Just as his eyes didn't reopen after his slow blinking he felt the world tilt once more and he was transported to one of his fondest memories of Bonnie. _

_They were dancing; her in that vibrant orange dress and him in his usual black and leather get-up. She actually smiled at him that night after he'd had the decency to wonder about her safety in their latest quest to keep Elena alive. Damon's limbs twitched as he moved along with the memory. "Careful Damon," she'd said, "I might start to think you actually care." And Damon's breathing hitched as he lay there in the desolate forest. He should have cared; he should have let himself care for someone other than Elena. He should have but he never did, he even stopped caring about his brother – the only family he had left, and that should have been the first sign that maybe pursuing Elena wasn't the smartest option for him. But Damon wasn't smart, he didn't think, he just _did_. He killed, he fucked, he fucked people over and he'd rub salt in your wounds afterwards, because he didn't _give_ a __**fuck**__. That's the person Bonnie died for…And the knowledge of that alone was tearing him apart. An infuriated cry ripped through his chest and arched his back off of the floor, it was like all of his emotions had taken on a physical pain, and a physical representation as it tore apart his insides. His hatred for himself and Bonnie's sacrifice in his name was slamming together in his chest and he doubted he'd survive it this time…_

Bonnie's heart ached as the intimacy of Damon's thoughts swam through her mind – they'd established that they'd both hallucinated one another but…Damon's had been different. The culmination of all of his feelings merging with the dreams…they drove him crazy with guilt and regret without her…before she'd returned to him. Bonnie knew every thought that had traversed his mind and it was a strange sensation when she realised that eighty percent of them had been about her…fifteen percent had been his brother and a shocking five percent had been Elena's betrayal.

Bonnie was just standing there, outside of his door, holding her breath and blinking stupidly – wondering what it all meant. Where it would all lead. How it ended. Bonnie had lived a life where death was never the final chapter and yet she was never immortal – but she was now…_ish_?

"I can hear you thinking you know." Came Damon's voice and she gasped, jumping back as the door opened with him grinning down at her. "Well not _literally_, I should point out," Damon went on, "But I heard you breathing and then you stopped so I figured you were overthinking everything as usual and honestly we don't have time for that right now." Bonnie blinked a few more times and then her mouth opened and closed before she cleared her throat and crossed her arms.

"And what are we setting aside all this time for?" She wondered, looking up at his eyes. She hadn't admitted aloud or even to herself yet, but she loved that his one eye was now the colour of hers, like…like a part of him belonged to her now; even though it was more likely a testament to his newfound magic. Wasn't it the same thing though?

"_This_." He said and pulled her into his bedroom swiftly, clicking the door shut behind them as he tugged her to the edge of his bed. "Sit." He instructed with a light seriousness; she could see a smile was seconds from his lips. "I learned something cool while you were zoning out during our test-trials."

"Oh?" Bonnie said dismissively, she'd been zoning out for sure, her mind plagued with the impossibility of it all…of being part vampire and not knowing what the _hell_ exactly that meant.

"Yup." He said cheerfully and held out his hand between the two of them. "I'd say you should close your eyes but I wouldn't want you to miss it." Bonnie was about to ask him what the hell he was on about when something appeared in his outstretched hand. "It's not the real thing, I don't _think_ anyway, but I know how much she meant to you so I manifested one from scratch." Bonnie gasped and reached out tentatively to touch the caramel coloured bear that had appeared out of thin air.

"_Cuddles_," Bonnie whispered, in awe. "Damon," she looked up at him with her eyes wide and shining, "I, I don't know what to say."

"I think 'thank you' is a good place to start." She giggled, a happy sound falling from her mouth in short breaths as she held the bear to her chest and beamed up at him. She hadn't seen him look this proud of himself since the first batch of pancakes he'd made for her with those ghastly fangs drawn on with whipped cream. His smile was warm as it moved over his face, brightening every feature he had. Acting on instinct she moved to kiss his cheek, feeling as it rounded as his grin widened. She moved away slowly to gage his response.

"_Thank you_." She said, "This is probably the cheesiest – _sweetest_ thing anyone's ever done for me."

"You're welcome." Damon said, dipping his head so that their faces were close together and Bonnie felt her throat tighten at their proximity. _He loves you_, a voice reminded her, unnecessarily. _You love him_.

_Every now and then_

_The stars align_

_Boy and girl meet_

_By the great design_

_Could it be,_

_That you and me and the lucky ones?_

"Damon, I need you to listen to me for a minute and you can't move, okay?" Bonnie said, her words rushed as she built up the courage to see the moment through. Wordlessly he nodded and she drew in a breath and moved closer to him. "I can't articulate how I feel about you but I think I know how to _show_ you, and you deserve to be shown how happy you can make someone." His eyes became expectant and his mouth fell open slightly, calling to her attention. Her eyes flickered to them and back to Damon's eyes – _her_ eyes. She couldn't define it _exactly_, but she felt a part of herself reacting to her own words in a way she imagined Damon might. His soul was etched into hers now, she felt it, she was sure he did too. Making sure he was staying still she moved until their mouths were a breath apart. Thoughts of Jeremy, Elena, Stefan, Caroline, her mother, her Grams, Emily, her father, her vampirism, **everything**, it all rose up to meet her as she felt his breath tickling the skin of her mouth but she didn't waver – Bonnie _never_ wavered. Like a roaring wave her insecurity and apprehension hung over her head before crashing down around her and falling to pieces at her feet as she pressed her mouth to his. Like she wanted, he stayed still as she moved her lips over his; testing the texture, the sensation, the desire sparking behind it before she pulled away slowly, once again gaging his reaction. His eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly puckered, a light flush dusting his cheeks before his eyes snapped open and locked with hers.

And exactly like the time he told her he loved her she watched as the colour in his eyes flared and could only assume the same was happening to her as they watched each other. The blues and greens shone with a vibrancy that stole Bonnie's breath away.

_Finally_

_You and me are the lucky ones this time_

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><p><strong>*does the running man as a celebratory dance*<strong>

**Stay excellent.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Ever been to Cape Town? No? **_**Well**_**, get ready.**

**I'm stuck between Team Fahada and Team Lucy. You'll see why ;)**

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><p>Amelia had said that they should do something; leave the house, see the sights. Bonnie thought it was a terrible idea but her apprehension was quickly shot down with the rare alliance between Caroline and Damon who both boo'd her and told her she didn't have a choice while Enzo cheered them on. Stefan had been called into a private meeting with Amelia while Lucy just looked at them and sighed, realising <em>someone<em> had to be the responsible one. Fahada had followed Bonnie when she'd said that she wanted to change into something else, chuckling when Caroline threatened to dress her herself if she took longer than twenty minutes.

"We're losing daylight!" The blonde had hollered, wiggling her brows when Bonnie looked over her shoulder to roll her eyes.

"Bonnie, you need to feed before you leave." Fahada had said, falling in line with Bonnie's steps as they made their way to the sleeping quarters. Bonnie looked to Fahada and nodded seriously; she wasn't going to take any chances with her newfound hybrid status. Beyond the blinding pull to blood when it was in front of her she'd yet to uncover any negatives but she wouldn't risk presumptuousness. "I'll be right beside you, you're not alone." The words were so simple but they touched Bonnie so wholly, it was strange, to be her age, with all her life experiences, to be so moved with someone's care-giving. She supposed it was because she'd had so little of it of late. Outside of Damon, Lucy and Caroline of course. Enzo too, just a little bit.

"Thank you," Bonnie said a Fahada waved her into the room she'd been sleeping in, "For everything. You've been so…so supportive and kind to us, to _me_." Fahada smiled then as she sat on the bed and revealed a blood bag Bonnie hadn't seen in her hands before that moment.

"I _like_ you that's why; me… I don't usually like people, or other supernaturals much, at _all_ if we're being honest, but you and Damon – I see you two growing on me. Lucy as well, Stefan if he'd let himself and who doesn't _love_ Caroline, especially when she flushes under Enzo's mischief?" Bonnie couldn't help the warmth that spread through her with Fahada's words, "But Elena is troubled," Fahada said, her tone unwavering from its careful pronunciation and deceptive sweetness, "She needs time to heal, but she needs to do it alone, and _that_," Fahada emphasised with a raise of her thick brows, "Will be her greatest challenge yet." Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest, guilt slamming into her like an anvil from above. "Don't wallow Bonnie, _never_ wallow," Fahada said flashing to stand in front of Bonnie who was standing in the centre of the room looking like she might be sick, "You, when you were younger, your powers, your element was fire was it not?" Bonnie nodded and Fahada smiled, "You were _forged in fire_, you are resilient, wicked in the kindest of ways and you are built for more than what your past tells you. Whatever is coming, whatever Fate is coming to you, it's going to be incredible and you need to be ready – you need to be _selfish_ now Bonnie, you need to think of yourself, the way Lucy does, the way Damon does, the way you've always thought of everyone but yourself…And _I_ know all this, because you all wear your hearts on your sleeves, your love and care spilling out of every available outlet; eyes, mouths, fingers, whichever. It surely is a sight to behold." Bonnie looked down at her feet.

"I should talk to Elena." Bonnie said, determination in her eyes when she looked up and Fahada made an un-ladylike sound in the back of her throat as she handed the bag to Bonnie and motioned for her to drink.

"_You_ need to go outside and follow whatever silly plan they're all plotting right now, leave Elena to me. I know what to do." Bonnie nodded, took a tentative sip of the blood and shuddered when the headiest mixture of pleasure and pain poured into her mouth. Fahada watched as her blue-green eyes fell to the wayside; black and red surfacing before her eyes closed, the veins dancing at the skin under her eyes. Bonnie pulled at the blood-bag until it was empty. "How do you feel?" Bonnie blew out a large breath from her cheeks and shrugged as her face returned to normal.

"_Normal_, but also just like I drank blood." Her nose wrinkled and Fahada laughed.

"_This_, whatever's happening to you," Fahada said a small smirk on her lips, "It's going to change everything. Not just for you and Damon. For the whole supernatural world." Bonnie swallowed.

"That's a lot of pressure." She muttered.

"From yourself mostly no doubt, now hurry and change, Caroline's getting restless." With that Fahada sped out of the room, leaving Bonnie chewing her bottom lip pensively. In a flash she was dressed in high-waisted denim shorts and a loose tank top with a black fedora and matching ballet flats. She'd gotten her hair under control this morning already, cheating and using a little magic to straighten out the flyaways and curls until it ran smooth and sleek, brushing the tops of her shoulders now. Nodding at her reflection in the full length mirror she stepped out of the room just as she saw Elena open her door a little wider for Fahada to step in. Elena locked eyes with her then and Bonnie felt time grind to a halt as they held each other's gaze. Fahada ended the exchange when she patted Elena's shoulder as she stepped into the room, the vampire immediately going inside and shutting the door.

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><p>Bonnie was shaking her head even as everyone clamoured into the car. Imran grinned at her from the driver's seat, waving her over. Damon, Caroline, Lucy and Enzo squeezed in the back. Damon grumbled something about Caroline just getting on Enzo's lap already, which the blonde gave him a solid slap to the chest for. Lucy told them off and called for Bonnie to hurry up and get in, "Before I start casting spells." She threatened with a grin on her face. Bonnie tisked but got in the front and turned to face everyone at the back.<p>

"Why doesn't Damon or Enzo sit in the front, I'm sure either of their egos could use the extra space." Enzo laughed dryly while Damon winked at Bonnie.

"Excellent point Bon-Bon, but we're perfectly comfortable here." Damon said.

"Speak for yourself." Lucy whined lowly and he chuckled, throwing an arm around her shoulder and taking in a breath as he settled down beside her snugly, much to her dismay.

"Don't tell me," he said, eyes glittering, "You feel better already?" Imran guffawed as he put the car into gear and pulled out of the garage and spun the car, making quick work of reaching the coastal highway.

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><p>They ended up on Long Street, eyes wide, <em>well<em>; Bonnie's were as wide as they'd ever been, taking it all in. Pulling off the side he parked the van and shooed them onto the sidewalk. They all hurried out, looking up at the buildings; all bars, restaurants, book stores, second hand clothing stores, tattoo parlours and boutiques. Caroline screamed almost immediately as she spotted a cute dress in the window but Damon gripped her by the back of her shirt, holding her in place as she tried to dash across the road to the store. Bonnie laughed at the sight of them and shook her head. Lucy eyed Enzo out as he stood beside her, his eyes on Caroline as she turned around to give Damon an earful only to be taken gently by the elbow by Imran who booped her nose and told her, and the rest of them to follow him.

"We're going for a quick drink to loosen up before we go sight-seeing." He said and couldn't help but laugh when Caroline started clapping her hands. Bonnie's expression was softer; she'd missed seeing Caroline, missed seeing her like this, happy and giddy – the way she used to be. Damon pulled her out of her thoughts when he threw his arm over her shoulder and pulled her along behind Enzo and Lucy that were in the middle of challenging one another to a drink off.

"Oh please," Enzo was saying his expression daring, "I could drink you under the table in half an hour, fifteen minutes if we chug." Lucy snorted as she tugged her hair-tie out and let her long hair fall down her back, fluffing it a little.

"_Please_," She said waving a hand at him, "I know you missed out on a lot, but I'm sure even you've heard about the Bennett women." Bonnie snickered.

"Ah," Damon said with a loud sigh as he drank in the sights and colours as they approached a bar door, "The Bennett women, can't live with them, can't live without them." Bonnie whacked his chest as they ascended the stairs of a bright yellow walled building called the Beer House. Damon looked down at her and winked again, causing Bonnie to press her mouth together for fear of smiling or indulging him by retorting. They turned the corner of the staircase as it opened up to a wooden floored large room with a high ceiling. There were bright words plastered all over the black and yellow walls and the group quickly discovered why it was called the Beer House.

"Ninety-nine types of beer, huh?" Enzo wondered aloud, making a show of limbering up, "Ready when you are, Bennett." Lucy bumped shoulders with him and winked at Caroline who was rolling her eyes at them good-naturedly. Imran picked up a menu and showed Caroline what he usually preferred while Damon twirled him and Bonnie in a slow circle, his arm still around her shoulder before facing the long bar where there were three men waiting to take orders. Grinning, Damon moved them over and nodded at the nearest man who had just finished up rolling the sleeves on his black shirt.

"What can I get you guys?" He asked, his South African accent making his voice warm and gruff.

"Two tequila shots," Damon said, ignoring Bonnie's sigh, "And, _ooh_, a cherry beer for the missus and I'll take the local favourite I suppose? It's her first time here and I was a _baby_ when I was here last so..." He beamed, bumping his hip lightly to Bonnie's.

"That would be the Black Label beer, sir." Damon nodded.

"Black Label it is." The bar tender nodded.

"Coming right up, oh, and welcome to Cape Town." He added and tapped the counter before heading off to get their order. Damon said 'thanks' before looking down to Bonnie.

"Don't give me that look, I only ordered the cherry beer for you because I'm having half of it too. You're my new drinking buddy, suck it up." The elder Salvatore sassed.

"So I have no say in this?" Bonnie asked drolly.

"You do, but today, I don't really feel like indulging your unending questions, all we're doing today is making sure that _that_," he leaned in a little and she smiled as she inched away slowly, "…smile there stays in place."

* * *

><p>"…Would you have it any other way?" Fahada pressed, watching with reserved eyes as Elena paced back and forth at inhuman speed as she tried to arrange her thoughts. "Could you possibly <em>be<em> any more selfish?" Elena's head snapped up then and a quick flash of anger shot through her before she remembered it was Fahada she was looking at. "Elena, you threw away every fondness in your heart for Damon…You couldn't possibly have expected that to go over smoothly had he returned… and surely, from what I've gathered, his return was inevitable what with death meaning _nothing_ to your group of friends…You _knew_, deep down you _knew_ he'd come back but you wouldn't let yourself admit that, you wouldn't let yourself _hope_, or _hurt_ for him. You were selfish with the loss of Damon, giving little to no thought about what he'd want if you'd have asked for his opinion…"

"You don't know Damon, _or_ me." Elena pointed out her voice heavy, weighed down by an uncontrollable sadness.

"And _**you**_ do?" Fahada challenged, face even, posture relaxed and casual belying the fierce undertones of her words. "You've stunted your own personal growth by denying yourself the process of love and mourning…how do you expect to _evolve_? To _survive_ if all you do is hide behind everyone else when worst comes to worst?" Fahada crossed her arms. "I'm sure you could say it helped you to move on, but it _wasn't_ moving on, it wasn't _mourning_, it was pretending everything was still the way it was when you were human, despite the truth that was screaming at you, _snarling_ in your face…you're a _**vampire**_ Elena, you're _**dead**_, your best friend hollowed herself out bending at your every whim, you toyed between two brothers, your fickle heart causing immense pain but you poured your compassion and humanity over it and you were forgiven for your confusion, for your rampant emotions…you should afford the same courtesy to others when they change their minds as well…" Fahada pressed her mouth shut then, "And I say all this out of care for you, it's not easy watching the people you love change, pull away from you… leave you behind?" Fahada sighed, "You can be the better version of yourself Elena, the _best_ version of yourself in fact, the moment you accept the things you cannot change and take the reins over the things that you can. And you will be loved and you will love, but you cannot expect the love you're used to, the tides have turned and it's time for you to forge your own path, lest you stay this way forever." With that Fahada nodded, almost to herself as she ran her eyes over the walls of the bedroom, "When you wish to go outside for a bit, let me know, I know the perfect place where we can have a drink and watch the sunset…and I hope you'll accompany me."

* * *

><p>"This is <em>insane<em>!" Caroline squealed as she held her arms out, feeling like she was on top of the world. They'd all taken a walk up the infamous Lion's Head after a quick drive to the side of Table Mountain. Caroline was standing on a rocky podium of sorts with a pole jutting up next to her as Enzo held her waist as she giggled with the wind whipping her hair every which way. The ocean stretched out as far as the eye could see to their left while the city swarmed with life and humanity to the right and the rocks underfoot seemed to be the only thing reminding them that they weren't in fact, flying. Imran took a photograph of them with a wide smile on his face. Lucy was avoiding the edge of the cliff as best as she could while she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was an _energy_ in this city, in the air; it was percolating with life and undeniable magic. She heard the soft click of a camera and opened one eye to find Imran had the lens aimed at her face, a small smile crept onto her face as he took another, laughing as she shook her head before walking over to sit down next to him. Crouching, he swivelled on his heel to aim the camera at Bonnie and Damon, their arms extended as they pointed here and there. One of Damon's hands remained at the small of Bonnie's back protectively and there was another click of the camera. Bonnie's head turned up to face Damon and her smile was radiant as the wind tugged at her hair and clothes, Damon said something but she didn't follow to where he pointed, choosing instead to keep her eyes on him. He realised a moment later and looked down to her beaming up at him. Almost instinctually his hand tightened its hold on her as a smile took over his face. They looked at peace here, Imran thought, _content_ and he heard Lucy laugh softly at the sight of them. Adjusting the focus of the lens Imran aimed…

Click.

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><p><em><strong>Mushy goodness<strong>_**. But now it's time for me to up the ante. Ready when you are**

**Stay excellent.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Note: **I know that no one wants to start an update off like this but i'll be quick I swear. I know many writers are getting discouraged by the lack of reviews and/or support they're receiving with their work. As much as it bums me out when I feel like I don't get a lot of feedback or whatever I would like to in the same breath express my deep appreciation for the people that _do_ and _have_ been reviewing my stuff. It's like the cherry on top of it all for me. I love this and my other stories so much so when someone shows how much they enjoy it, it really warms my heart but whether or not you review is your choice. Much like it's _my_ choice to keep updating my work - this is all about my love of writing at the end of the day and that isn't ever going to change. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

I know I did ;) XO

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><p>"<strong>To fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise, without being wise: for it is to think that we know what we do not know. For anything that men can tell, death may be the greatest good that can happen to them: but they fear it as if they knew quite well that it was the greatest of evils. And what is this but a shameful ignorance of thinking that we know what we do not know?" – Socrates, Greek Philosopher<strong>

Ask Bonnie Bennett about death and she'd put the kettle on and sit you down for an afternoon of conversation. She'd had more than her fill of the sacrifice, the loss, the mourning, yet she'd never had the peace of its fulfilment. She was always pulled back, always thrown this way and that between here and there, life and half-life. As if the gods themselves had it made it their mission to smite her for her goodwill. Yet now, with what started off seeming like death's final blow was turning out to be her greatest gift. She was alive again, and, by some Divine Intervention she'd been propelled into the immediate afterlife; through her soul's fusion with Damon's she'd adopted healthy doses of his vampirism in exchange for some of her magic. Somewhere in between all that they had balanced one another out, supernaturally speaking; Bonnie taking to the physicality of vampirism like a fish to water and Damon looking like he'd spent his whole life gearing up for the moments where he could send pulses of magic from his hands, sending whatever or whoever in any direction he chose.

A week had passed since their arrival to Cape Town, to the sleepy beach-side suburb of Melkbos. Bonnie and Damon had been inseparable since the morning he made her pancakes. Elena had drawn in on herself but had been as cordial and as pleasant as she could muster when she faced her friends who'd never looked happier. Stefan was in his element; learning something new every _hour_ from Lucy and Fahada, the latter of whom he'd taken quite a shine to. Something about the jarring effect of her soft aesthetic and her lightning quick rebuttals, her sturdy gaze and her obvious power. Caroline's laughter filled the hallways and lit up every room, whether she was with Bonnie, or Enzo, Lucy or Imran. Amelia looked over the group of them as they stood, on the rooftop, watching the sunset, throwing warmth and bright burning colours over everything in sight. They were growing stronger; becoming a team, the darkness that had fell on them after the loss of Damon and Bonnie receding, making way for a new chapter in their lives. Her husband stood beside her and he let out a long, indulgent sigh and leaned in with that playful glimmer in his eye that she loved so much.

"And you said you didn't want children." He whispered before placing a kiss to the shell of her ear. She looked up at him, smiling though she was narrowing her eyes.

"I want _your_ children," she reminded him, "None other will do." He rolled his eyes but kissed her cheek and pulled her close. Bonnie was staring open-mouthed at the view in front of her. She doubted she'd get used to the colour of the sun as it set here; it seemed _different_ somehow, like an extra few flecks of colour were saved to shine on the shores of South Africa. She hummed happily as she rested her head on Caroline's shoulder, who threw an arm around her in response.

"This is perfect." Caroline said softly, "For so long I was holding on to the fond memories we all had but this is what I needed, what we all needed…to make _more_." Bonnie lifted her head then and she looked at Caroline with a mixture of surprise and affection.

"You're wonderful, you know that right?" Bonnie said and Caroline sniffled as she smiled, "Thanks for not giving up on me…I know you weren't the only one, but you, right now I'm saying thank you to _you_, for staying true to who you are and trying to find me even when it all seemed hopeless." Caroline pulled her into a bone-popping hug and Bonnie buried herself in the hold of her friend. Caroline Forbes, who smelled of strawberries, sunshine and _home_.

"Are you two quite finished?" Enzo interrupted and the girls turned to face him as he threw an arm over Damon's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek with his own nose, "Damon and I are trying to have a moment of our own." Lucy snorted and rolled her eyes, looking to the other side of her to a very quiet Elena.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" The Bennett witch said, pointing her chin towards the setting sun. Elena drew in a breath and blinked a few times before looking up to Lucy and smiling.

"It is." She agreed, though her voice was distracted and…sad, very sad. Lucy threw an arm over her shoulder.

"Chin up kiddo, we'll get you through it." Elena shot her a puzzled look. "Oh don't give me that, I can care about more than one girl with a penchant for doom," Lucy said with a quick grin, "Bonnie is my priority, she should have always been, but that doesn't mean I'm heartless when it comes to everyone else…_well_, as long as they bore no threat to her of course," Lucy's eyes became distant as she thought of Jeremy who had unwittingly almost torn the biggest rift between him and Bonnie by threatening Damon – lord alone knew how _that_ would have ended. Probably with the vampire under her arm at present trying to snap her neck after she killed her 'brousin'. Nothing was black and white anymore. "You're dealing with a lot all at once and although _theoretically_ you have forever to deal with it I suggest you get the ball rolling on being more proactive about it. Forever is meant as a celebration not a jail sentence." With that, Lucy tapped her shoulder and turned away, "If any one of you need me, I'll be in my room, _ignoring_ you." She said with a wave at everyone else, wiggling her brows at her cousin. Bonnie shooed her off with a happy laugh, her smile still in place when Elena caught her eye.

"Night Bon." Elena said with a semblance of a smile ghosting over her lips before she too, made her way back inside.

"…Goodnight." Bonnie said, her eyes trailing after her. A sudden gasp from Stefan had her head spinning in his direction as she saw Fahada throw him backwards, onto the ground and yelled for them all to get down, her eyes locked on Imran. Before Bonnie had time to react an arrow sailed past her side, _just_ missing her torso, whilst another sank into Damon's shoulder. She pushed him down, her eyes wild as she made sure they were all crouched down. "Fahada!" She yelled, when she saw the girl jump with unrestrained agility over the balcony down to whomever or _whatever_ had shot at them. Looking down to Damon who had paled immensely since she last looked at him, not _five seconds_ ago, she ripped the arrow out of him, throwing it aside when it stung her fingertips. A small part of her noted the odd inscriptions on the arrow but she'd remember that later. Now – she was going to kill someone. Looking to Caroline and the Stefan she leapt over the ledge after Fahada – a primal vengeance spurring her on. When she landed she heard Damon's hoarse voice calling to her but she was long gone. As quickly as she'd burst into a sprint, did she skid to a halt when her eyes took in Fahada. The girl had just tossed a head over her shoulder and turned to Bonnie, a single spray of blood flicked over her torso – not her own of course.

"_The Superior's Hunters_." Fahada said, but her eyes went up and over Bonnie's head, and the hybrid turned, seeing Imran looking at his sister and then nodded, before lifting Damon up and over his shoulder. The sight of Damon had Bonnie in a tailspin and before she really knew what was happening she was flying into the house and up the stairs to get to him, to see him, and _hold_ him.

"_**Damon**_?!" She yelled, flying passed Elena and Lucy in the kitchen as she clung to Damon's scent, falling over herself as she reached the third floor where Imran had place him on a gurney. Damon's shirt had been torn off and the wound where the arrow had been was throbbing with the pulse of dark magic – something she hadn't encountered since her own dealings with _Expression_. The wound was bubbling and the sound of Damon's skin fizzing made Bonnie go almost blind with rage. She flashed to his side and held his face in her hands, the headiest potion of anger and fear running through her. She was lost somewhere in the haze of wanting to hurt whoever did this to him and the need to stay beside Damon until the colour returned to his skin. He was gasping and his chest was hitching as he struggled to breathe – so much like in his nightmares. She looked up with tear-filled eyes at Imran who was drawing some liquid from a vial into a fresh syringe. "…W-what is that?" Bonnie choked out, "Imran, who _**were**_ they?"

_A few days prior_

After climbing up and down Lion's Head, Imran had taken them all to Camp's Bay, to frolic in the sun for a few more hours before they headed home. Unbeknownst to them they had crossed paths with a small coven of witches who were bathing in the sun nearby. There were only three of them and they all laid down, expecting nothing but a day filled with beautiful men and strong cocktails. The oldest one, a redhead had felt a tingling and looked up to see a shimmering coalesce with a small young woman's aura as she squealed and ran away from the cold water into a man's arms. He grinned and tossed her over his shoulder but it wasn't idle curiosity that caused the redhead to keep her blue eyes on them. There was a layer of supernatural film covering them; something other supernaturals were instinctually privy to and could harness from metres away of they practised long enough. And she had.

"There." She said, nodding towards the pretty caramel-hued girl who was giggling and wriggling in the hold of the dark haired man who was spinning her around relentlessly before heading to the water, much to her horror. "Her signature, why is it that colour?" The blue-haired, pale-skinned witch next to her dropped her sunglasses to look at the couple her witch-sister Kiera had pointed out. She shot upright almost immediately.

"Impossible." The girl breathed, smacking the sleeping witch next to her until she started awake. Grumbling, the brunette was pulled upright and her head turned to where the other two witches were still gawking.

"No _**fucking**_ way." She drawled, still half-asleep, "There's _**no**_ way."

"Look at their colours, both of them!" The Kiera hissed, her red hair flailing around her pixie features that were twisted in incredulity and disgust. "They're _hybrids_." She spat. "And the most unholy of them all."

"We have to call _him_." The blue-haired girl said, "He'll freak if he finds out before we tell him, we should have seen this coming." The brunette nodding hastily, already dreading the meeting they'd have with their Superior.

"We tag them first, there, the taller male vampire, next to them, he looks like the head of their coven," Kiera said, sizing Imran up from a distance, noticing how he was talking to them, with the mannerisms of a teacher, a leader and she smiled, "We'll tag _him_ and then we'll go to the Superior and follow the steps he decides." The other two nodded. In a formation that came so naturally to them, they stood and packed their things; like synchronised swimmers, they sauntered over to pass the loosely assembled coven before them. The blue-haired witch bristled when she sensed the other witch among them, _pure witch_, flicking the nose of one of the hybrids, the girl.

"They seem…" she began but the redhead cut her off, she was about to say '_like a family_'.

"_Quiet_ Tessa," Kiera snapped, "You too Bridgette, pull it together, walls up, smiles on, got it?" the other two nodded and let Kiera fall into a rhythm that was a step ahead of them. Kiera smiled as she raised a hand to cover her eyes as she approached Imran.

"Do ya'll know where the bathrooms are? We're _so_ lost!" She gushed in an impressive Texan accent. Imran nodded, smiling as he raised his arm to indicate where they were. Grinning at him and smiling quickly at the other women standing beside him, a blonde vampire and a brunette witch she made a quick lift of her shoulders and clapped her hands together once. The leader was tagged and he was none the wiser. "Thank you so much, have a lovely day now!" she drawled, flicking her radiant hair over a shoulder, wiggling her fingers and waving the girls to walk in the direction he'd pointed out.

_Present_

Imran was grim as he injected the syringe into the crook of Damon's neck. Bonnie blanched as he jabbed it in, she knew Imran was trying to help but the way Damon's back arched in response made her want to scream, like Damon was. Stefan was yelling something to Fahada, Caroline and Enzo were frozen in horror somewhere behind Bonnie and Amelia and Lucy were flying through the pages of Grimoires Amelia had assembled specifically for healing spells. Elena stood at the threshold of them room; frozen and misplaced. Her eyes were locked on Bonnie who was beside herself; her face going in and out of its vampiric state. After having heard that Bonnie was now a hybrid they'd all been shocked but supportive, but seeing her like this was somehow like the news was only just _now_ clicking into place with Elena. Bonnie's bottom lip trembled as she went between cupping Damon's cheek, holding his hand, to rubbing soothing hands over his chest as his frame twitched and curled in agony.

"I have it!" Amelia yelled, shoving her way blindly forward, her eyes still reading over the spell. Imran moved out of the way, his face grim. Bonnie didn't want that to sink in yet; the concern and unhappiness on his face as her eyes scanned everything wildly, accurately and at a speed that was wholly unnatural. Now was not the time to get caught up in the vortex of her abilities. "Bonnie." Amelia said, for the second time Bonnie realised. She looked at the witch. Amelia was taken aback by the colour of Bonnie's eyes, the green and blue were glowing when they weren't a startling black and red of her vampire counterpart. "Can you hone the fifth element? It'll make the spell work faster I'm sure." Bonnie nodded, took the book with a quickness that bordered on impatience. Her eyes scanned the page but then something else clicked into place. She didn't _need_ words. Not with Damon. Not with the fifth element. Not with everything that was spinning in her mind, not with the magic that was bursting at the seams to save him. Shoving the book in Caroline's hands she turned back to Damon and took in a shuddering breath and she felt the room stutter to a slowness; the sounds falling away to a thick silence as they waited with bated breath to see what she'd do.

"The fifth element," Bonnie said, placing her hands on Damon's chest as she looked opposite herself to Amelia, "It's in me, in _him_… I don't _need_ a spell." Bonnie had one word in her mind: **heal**.

"Then, wha –" Amelia began but a bright sphere of light burst between Bonnie's fingertips as they rested on Damon. She moved then, with everyone watching, lifting her hands to cup his cheeks and dipped her head until she was a breath away from his mouth.

_Come to me._

She kissed him hard on the mouth and Elena felt her stomach bottom out. Stefan's mouth fell open along with Caroline's while Lucy, Enzo, Imran and Amelia looked on gravely. Almost immediately Damon was soothed, almost immediately his panting evened out as he breathed easily through his nose. And as soon as feeling returned to his arms, they reached up to circle her waist, pulling Bonnie closer to him.

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><p>…<strong>I regret <strong>_**nothing**_**.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Note: **Hello again everybody! I hope your festivities were smashing and I hope you're all as excited as I am. Once again, you are all incredible and I cherish every single one of you. _Enjoy_ XO

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><p>"<strong>These violent delights<strong>

**Have violent ends**

**And in their triumph die**

**Like fire and powder**

**Which, as they kiss, consume."**

**-William Shakespeare**

Bonnie was well aware that there were eight pairs of eyes on her and Damon.

She was also aware that his hands were digging into her skin, keeping her against him as they kissed.

She was _also_ aware of how incredible it was to be _kissing_ him.

Also how the fizzing of his skin had stopped.

How his breathing was now hitching for a _different_ reason.

But her mouth couldn't stop moving against his.

He was _alive_.

He was _okay_.

And he was kissing the _shit_ out of her.

_** Yes he **_**was**.

Someone cleared their throat and Bonnie flew clear across the room, reality finally slamming into her. She didn't need to catch her breath really, but with one hand on her chest she tried to anyway. Damon's hands fell to his sides and he groaned as he eased himself up, his eyes locking in on Bonnie as she stood a good few feet away from him. Despite himself he managed a lopsided smirk in her direction before moving to stand on his feet. Bonnie twitched a little, wanting to move forward and stop him, tell him to take it easy but she already felt like she'd broken so many rules in the last five minutes that she should just call it a day. Stefan was the one to sit him back down with a stern expression to which Damon rolled his eyes. Sitting down Damon waved Bonnie over and, after rocking on her heels once or twice she flashed to his side but avoided his eyes. Instead she looked to Fahada and Amelia.

"You said they were _'Superior Hunters'_… there's more to that isn't there?" Bonnie ignored Damon's hand reaching for hers, weaving their fingers together as she spoke. Fahada nodded. Stefan paled once more.

"We think that a hit was put on someone in this room." Fahada said evenly.

"Who else was almost hit with the arrows?" Stefan asked.

"Bonnie." Caroline said, a frown overruling her expression. There was an edge in her voice, an anger, at the utter predictability of the situation; _could they not have a __**moment's**__ peace_?

"So the two hybrids were attacked." Imran said, "We can understand the motive, but who would have had the time to seek them out, how, why and when?" Fahada shook head.

"Supernaturals have keen senses, they could have been spotted the day you all went sight-seeing. Did anything unusual happen?" The grey-eyed girl looked around the room at each of them. Lucy frowned, trying to recall anything suspicious but she was drawing a blank. "Anyone you met?"

"No…" Lucy said her voice dazed, "But there were three girls, American I think, but it was _literally_ nothing." Fahada became curious. She leaned into Amelia's space and whispered something lowly to her before she looked to them once more. Amelia left without another word.

"Who else remembers them?" Fahada asked and everyone but Elena, Stefan and Imran raised their hands. Fahada tensed then; Stefan and Elena hadn't been there, but Imran _had _and he couldn't remember. Someone had tagged her brother and they would _pay_. Noticing her posture he dropped his gaze, disappointed in himself and Fahada would have soothed him, reassured him, if they weren't pressed for time. "Okay," she said when Amelia returned with a pencil and a pad of paper, "Who can tell me what they look like?"

* * *

><p>"I lost her." Jeremy said as he sat in Alaric's apartment, staring unseeingly at the wall in front of him. Alaric sighed as he flopped down onto the couch next to the boy, handing him a glass of water. Jeremy looked at the glass, took a sip, pulled a face and set it down on the table. "I don't know what to do."<p>

"Jer, you're a kid. Hearts _heal_." Alaric said, ignoring when the boy snorted derisively. "Remember who you're talking to," the older man went on, "I've lost my fair share of women as well and it didn't feel like it for a long time, and then I died, but now… I feel better, and that _comes_ with time. Don't let your misery define you, it's unhealthy and depressing, and frankly, I don't know how much more sympathy you can wean out of the bottles you've replaced your friends with." Jeremy stared at the man openly.

"I want to be better." The boy said after a few moments and Alaric smiled, that assured fatherly smile of his.

"Then you will be, trust me."

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><p>Bonnie was torn. Looking at Damon, knowing that he was fine brought an indescribable relief along with it…but that was quickly falling away and being taken over by something far more feral. Something far more vampire-fuelled. She was finally coming to understand why Damon had these sudden bursts of anger, why Stefan went off the rails after holding it all in. She could barely keep it together even though Damon was right in front of her, talking, blinking, moving, and <em>whole<em>. She wanted to break something, shoot an arrow at someone's shoulder – their _chest_, show them that it wasn't _**okay**_ to hurt the people she loved. She was torn between all this…and the fact that the people behind it were witches. _Her_ people. Bonnie had had her fair share of run-ins with other witches but (and thanks to Caroline all those years ago) she'd never killed one herself. The very thought felt like a betrayal, a sacrilege, a defiance against the very core of who she'd always been. Damon squeezed her hand and her vision focused. He was staring at her. When had everyone left?

"Have you been listening at all?" He asked, standing up, his naked torso stretching and calling to her attention, but all she could think about was that for the longest moment she'd considered it…she'd considered killing three witches. Blinking rapidly she looked up at him.

"How are you?" She asked, ignoring whatever it was that he'd said and she quirked a brow at him when he frowned at her. "…_What_?"

"_You_, I want to know if _you're_ okay." He said and she wanted to laugh at him, and she might have, had he not looked as serious as he did in that moment. "Bonnie, this is all still so fresh for you –"

"Don't coddle me." She snapped catching them both off-guard, she winced, "I'm sorry, I just…Damon, you didn't see what you _looked_ like, I just…I _can't_ –"

"Hey, hey, hey," he said, pulling her into his arms and Bonnie was glad that they were alone in that moment, "Ssh, I'm okay…_okay_?" She pressed her cheek to his cool skin and breathed him in. He smelled like … she pulled away from him suddenly and he frowned.

"I kissed you," she said, "I kissed you and –"

"I kissed you back –"

"You healed," she went on, "I thought of one thing and one thing only in that moment when I kissed you, I wanted you to be _safe_ and _okay_…and then you _were_," she looked up at him as she wrapped her arms around her torso like she could keep the words that she so badly wanted to say inside of her, for just a moment longer, "And then when you were I got _mad_, I got so _**mad**_ Damon –" she sucked in a breath and flashed until she was right in his face, "I wanted to kill them," she whispered, _ashamed_, her eyes shimmering, "I think I still do." He held her gaze and began to nod, slowly.

"It's normal –"

"_No_." Bonnie cut him off, "Not for me."

"Bonnie, there's _more_ to you now, there are parts that are going to amplified, your trademark _want_ to avenge every slight against the people you care about is obviously one of them," He was making sense… but he was also wrong. He was _wrong_ because that wasn't why she was losing her mind; she was losing her mind because of what he'd said to her, as they stood next to the painting of that werewolf…it felt like a lifetime ago. It was also the look in his eye in that moment when he'd confessed to loving her, so full of fear and vulnerability – like he was now with added gentleness and determination. It broke her undead heart. She wanted him in that moment, more than she'd ever wanted anything before in her life.

"I wanted to kill them, I _want_ to kill them…" she pressed on, her eyes downcast as she sucked in a sharp breath before looking at him again, "And it's because I love you Damon, it's because I'm _in_ love with you." He stared at her for the longest while before a smile moved his mouth, slowly at first but then it was a bright, brilliant grin as he looked at her. So happy and _so_ beautiful. He pulled her to him then, his mouth over hers before her eyes had the chance to flutter closed. She was assaulted with his scent once more; it washed over her, waves of fresh water, soap, blood and traces of fire. She could feel it in him, his magic, melding with hers as their bodies pressed together, mouths breathing each other in, their lips swelling as a by-product of the pressure they used to nibble and suck and pull with their teeth. Bonnie was aware that Elena was somewhere in the same building as them but so was Stefan, Caroline and Enzo…Lucy was probably rolling her eyes with the knowledge of what they were doing together, alone on the third floor. Bonnie was unsurprised when she found herself lifted up and deposited onto the gurney Damon had been heaving on not half an hour ago, his hands tearing at her top, her own hands flinging the tattered material aside before tracing her fingers over his sinful torso. Using her newfound force she pulled him closer between her legs by his hips, the height of the operating table working to their advantage. She whimpered as he sucked on her bottom lip, his hands on her thighs, wedging himself further into the space between her legs, every angle of his body seeking her out, craving friction of any kind. They both still had their jeans on and Bonnie would have liked to think they were keeping it PG but she knew she was running out of time before even _she_ threw caution to the wind. Especially when she felt his fingers ghosting over her bra as they moved against one another.

"_Damon_." She breathed in between kisses and he moaned at the husky notes in her voice, "Other…vampires, in the house…_listening_ in –" he cut her off with a quick thrust between her legs and she sucked in a breath, her eyes darkening as he pulled away to trail his hands down the sides of her face.

"I want you." He said, running his fingers down to her neck, leaving lines of fire in their wake. Bonnie almost went cross-eyed at the lust she saw in his eyes, at the need vibrating in his voice. She swallowed and drew in a breath.

"I want _you_," she replied, because she did, she **really** did, "But we need to figure out who wants us dead first." His hands were at her waist now, digging into the dip there. She watched his face as his eyes trailed over her body, like he couldn't quite fathom it. His head snapped up then and they met each other's gaze. Green and blue, green and blue.

"Killing of _Hybrid-Haters_ first," he said and pressed his forehead to hers, "Then _you_." Despite herself she laughed.

"Your to-**do**-list?" She asked, with a cheeky grin and he winked.

"Yes ma'am." He said with a smug smile, "Come on, let's get you into bed before I change my mind." Nodding she pressed one more hard kiss to his mouth before she hopped off the table and took his hand in hers.

* * *

><p>"Isn't this <em>weird<em>?" Caroline hissed as she watched Enzo crane his neck and look upward, listening into the _lack_ of conversation that was taking place on the third floor of the house. "This is weird." She said, more so to herself as she flopped down onto the bed in his room and he looked over at her…up at the ceiling, then his eyes flashed over to her again. She was lying there, innocently inspecting her nails as she tried to ignore the sound of someone's shirt being torn apart. Enzo's chest tightened at the sight of her. She'd become so comfortable in his space of late; he was sure it started when he stopped openly flirting with her – rather employing normal conversation to break down the walls she was so quick to pull up around herself. She looked up at him then and tisked.

"Bored _already_?" She asked and he smiled. He wanted to make a biting comment, or, say _anything_ really…but for some reason the sight of her in that moment…with the moonlight giving her that angelic glow he saw follow her around during the day anyway he –

"You're beautiful, you know that right?" He burst out. She narrowed her eyes at him then.

"_Please_ don't tell me that you're suddenly in the 'mood' after eavesdropping on Damon and Bonnie because I don't think I'm ready for that –" he was in front of her in a flash.

"No, not them, just you." He said his dark eyes boring into her blue ones, "It's been there the whole time, you know it too, bubbling consistently in the background." Caroline searched his face.

"I'm not kissing you." She said, with assured finality. He couldn't blame her; neither of them had the best history with relationships.

"I only told you you were beautiful, I have no intention of pushing my luck…not yet anyway." He winked. "Now scoot over, you look like you could use a cuddle," he settled on the mattress next to her, making a show of putting his hands safely behind his head, "And if you play nice I'll let you tell me what's been bothering you," he narrowed his eyes when she opened her mouth to deny it, "And don't deny it either. I might be an asshole but I'm no _idiot_." She smiled then, moved to lie comfortably on her back and sighed.

"You're not _that_ bad." She said after a while and his face was the picture of success.

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><p><strong>Note:<strong> The Superior Plot-line starts to unfold from the next chapter and I'm so excited to see what you guys think! Stay excellent


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